Drama Starts When You're Young
by SideshowJazz1
Summary: There were really 24 contestants on Total Drama Island, the most interesting of which was not sixteen like everyone else. The age limit was 14 - 18. Having the one fourteen-year-old who entered was sure to create drama, so how could Chris deny Haley Masker her chance? Especially when she and the girl assigning herself Haley's personal minder fall for the same guy...R&R!
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi! I'm going to thank Sideshow Cellophane 26 for bringing me to this fandom, and this is my first story. Sorry, guys, but it's the rehashed Total Drama Island, first season, with a couple of OCs – so there's 24 competitors. Haley is my main one, while Clay is more to balance things out. I may be playing around with the rules of the story a bit, but I've had this idea in my head for the last few days.**

**Plot: Haley is the youngest competitor on Total Drama Island, and Courtney, thinking she'll be scared, decides to personally act as her mentor and older sister figure. But what'll happen when Courtney and Haley begin to feel an attraction towards the same delinquent?**

**And don't ask me why I decided to do Duncan/OC. I'm more of a Trent girl. Blame every Duncan fangirl on the planet that I know of. Please enjoy! The prologue is a little short, but the other chapters will be longer, promise!**

**Disclaimer: Total Drama is not mine.**

The screen flickered to life. A wheely chair with its back to the camera turned around, showing a girl with short blonde hair and a wide smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Haley." she said. "I know I may be one of the youngest to apply for Total Drama, but hey, I'm tough." Her blue-green eyes shone. "Looking for adventure here, guys, and the hundred grand or whatever the prize money is couldn't hurt if I win. Watch out, you other guys, cause I'm already an island girl!"

Chris studied the audition tape thoughtfully, glancing down at Haley Masker's application. The company had already approved twenty-three contestants, from bubbly best friends Sadie and Katie, to budding architect Clay. They were in between Haley and one other, which Chris was given full reign in picking. "I wasn't expecting any fourteen-year-olds to take the fourteen to eighteen limit seriously..." he murmured. Finally, a smirk appeared on his face. "Well, it'll sure create more drama! Looks like twenty-three sixteen-year-olds and one fourteen-year-old will be in our first season!"

_One week later..._

Haley Masker opened the mailbox as she got home from school, and couldn't help the feeling of apprehension that came when she saw her name written on one envelope. She knew, just knew that this was a rejection letter from Total Drama, the reality show that was due to start its first season in mid-June, when the summer holidays started (since it was exclusively for people 14 – 18...most would still be at school).

"Mom?" she called as she opened the door to her house. She and her mom, Jessica, lived together on their own. Jessica was a young widow, and had been for twelve years, after manslaughter had occurred when Haley's father had stopped by at a bar on the way home and some very drunk men were there.

"How was school, honey?" called Jessica from the lounge. "By the way, did you get the mail?"

"Yes." Haley answered, her face clouding as she trudged into the room. "And I have no homework right now, since school's out come Friday." It was Tuesday, and Total Drama was due to start on the following Monday.

"What's up, Hales?" Jessica asked. "Did the letter from Total Drama still not turn up?" She hadn't been sure about her daughter wanting to appear on a reality show, but Haley had insisted it would be safe, and she wouldn't be missing school, and it would also give her a chance to meet new people – oh, and she knew some juniors from her school were applying.

"It came, all right." Haley said. "But I just know I'm not going to get in." She held out the letter. "My audition tape was just so corny, and I know I was one of the younger auditioners."

Jessica opened the letter, and smiled, handing the letter back. "I think you might want to take a look at this."

Haley scanned the letter...and then screamed. "I got in?! I'm actually going?! And it says it's at a five-star resort, look! This is going to be the best summer vacation of my life!" She hugged Jessica, and then danced off gracefully to call her friends, screaming all the way.

"Don't forget to miss us." Jessica smilingly sighed, half in amusement at Haley's excitement, and half sadly that she wouldn't see her daughter again until late September. She was definitely going to send her a video message from home at some point.

**So there's the prologue! I know, it sucks, but we'll get into the show next chapter! Please give me a review before I can screw up!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Right. Now let's see what happens! Thank you SO much for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

The first show had started, Haley was aware of that as her boat sped towards the island. She could see Chris greeting the next arriving contestant, a dark-haired skinny guy, who was very pale.

"Clay, great to meet you!" Chris' voice carried across the quickly shortening distance, loud enough for Haley to hear. After this Clay guy joined the rest of the group, Chris immediately turned his attention to the next boat, just as Haley hopped out, pulling her Hello Kitty wheely suitcase.

"Haley!" Chris said. "Youngest contestant, huh? You up for it?"

"Sure!" Haley said brightly. She'd been in a good mood ever since she saw the contents of the letter, although she had felt a little saddened when she hugged Jessica goodbye. "I'm ready for whatever you throw at me!"

"Haley, right?" said a bruette with a conservative sense of style, looking concerned. "How old are you?"

"I turned fourteen last May." Haley answered. "But I'm strong. I knew I was going to be one of the youngest here."

The older girl opened her mouth to say something, but was sidetracked by the next two contestants, plastic surgery king Justin (probably), and hyper, insane Izzy. Chris greeted the two of them. Finally, the brunette turned her attention back to Haley. She smiled. "I'm Courtney. If you need any help during the challenge or have any problems, talk to me, okay?"  
Haley wasn't sure that she liked this offer. It was a bit condescending and ageist. But she wanted to keep on the other contestants' good side, so she nodded and said, "Thanks, Courtney."

"First things first," Chris told the group, "We need a group photo for the promos. Everyone on the end of the dock!"

The group obeyed, and Chris leapt onto the now still boat Izzy had arrived on so he could take the picture there. Haley found herself cross-legged at the front, with Courtney on one side and two girls that dressed alike on the other, keeping her signature dimpled smile on her face.

After Chris had to stop in the middle of two shots and still had yet to take a picture, an African-American girl called out impatiently, "Come on, man, my face is starting to freeze!"

"Got it." Chris called cheerfully. "Okay, everyone, say 'Wawanakwa'!"

Haley felt the crack before she heard it over herself and everyone saying it. The picture had a lovely shot of her emerging from the water she'd just fallen into.

"Okay, guys, dry off and meet at the campfire pit in ten!" Chris said, the smile permanently fixed to his face, it seemed.

At the campfire pit, Chris told the group what they'd be doing, and how the camper staying the longest would win the money.

"Excuse me," said a boy with a lot of piercings and a neon green mohawk, "What would our sleeping arrangements be? Because I'd like to request a bunk under her." He pointed to a girl with Asian features and long dark hair. She might have been pretty if she wasn't scowling.

"Pervert." Haley muttered to Courtney, who nodded, glaring disapprovingly at the boy. However, despite her thoughts, Haley couldn't help but think she liked the boy's style. She'd always liked guys who had a lot of piercings on TV.

"They're not co-ed, are they?" asked the dark-haired girl, sounding worried.

"No." Chris assured her. "Girls get one side of each cabin, dudes get the other."

"Excuse me, Kyle?" said a blonde with a blue bandanna. "Can I have a cabin with a lake view, since I'm the prettiest?"

"Okay, you are, but that's not really how it works here. And it's _Chris._" Haley couldn't believe it – Chris' smile wasn't fixed to his face after all. He frowned when the blonde called him by the wrong name.

The skinnier of the two girls dressed alike took the hand of the paler girl. "I have to live with Sadie or I'll die!" she claimed.

"And I'll break out in hives." the other girl said. "It's true."

"This can _not _be happening." muttered a girl with blue streaks in her hair, who had an obviously gothic theme to her style.

"Aw, c'mon, guys, it'll be fun!" exclaimed the biggest guy. "It'll be like a big sleepover."

It was time for Chris to tell everyone their teams. This was how Haley managed to learn everyone's names. She committed them to memory: The goth was Gwen. The guy with the green eyes and black hair was Trent. Heather was the dark-haired girl who asked if the cabins were co-ed. Cody was the short guy with the nice blue eyes. Lindsay was the blonde with the bandanna. Beth was the short girl with braces. Katie was the darker girl whose friend was called Sadie. The big guy was Owen. The African-American girl was Leshawna. She still remembered Justin, and Noah was the name of the tanned boy with a constantly bored look on his face. She half-remembered Clay, the dark-haired pale boy that had been on the dock before her.

"From this moment on, you are known as the Screaming Gophers!" announced Chris.

"Wait!" cried Katie. "What about Sadie?"

Haley tried harder to remember the others, since her name was called first and she knew they'd all be on the same team. Geoff was the blonde guy in the cowboy hat. Bridgette was the friendly-looking blonde with the ponytail. DJ was the big, nervous-looking guy. Tyler was the guy in the red tracksuit. She already remembered Sadie, and Izzy, the redhead, as well as Courtney, who smiled at her when her name was called. Ezekiel was the scruffy guy in the hat, the boy with the mohawk and piercings was Duncan, the girl with serious muscles was Eva, and the nerdy guy with the glasses was Harold. Together, they were the Killer Bass.

"But Katie's a Gopher!' shrieked Sadie. "I have to be a Gopher!"

Courtney put a hand on her shoulder. "Sadie, is it? Come on, it'll be okay." She gently pulled Sadie along.

"This is so unfair!" Sadie was yelling. "I miss you, Katie!"

"I miss you too!" Katie said, nearly in tears.

After that, Chris showed the teams the confessional bathroom. After Gwen and Lindsay both tried out the confessions, Haley had her own try. "Well, it's not five-star like it said," she admitted, "But whatever. At least my team seems nice, even if that Duncan guy was making gutter comments on that one girl, and I do hope Sadie doesn't continue crying because she misses Katie...Mom, if you're watching, I love you!"

Owen had his own try, too. Finally, it was time to get to the cabins.

Courtney seemed to have already decided to make herself Haley's minder. "Haley, why don't you have this bunk, under me?" she offered.

Haley sighed, hoping Courtney wasn't going to treat her like a little kid. "Thanks." she said, not knowing what else to say.

"Excuse me, Chris?" Geoff said. "Is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?"

"You're all sixteen years old...except Haley, of course." Chris replied. "So, other than myself, you'll be unsupervised. Although maybe it would be a good idea not to let the fourteen-year-old go off by herself."

Haley groaned, and said "I"m just as mature as anyone else here! I'm not a little kid! If none of these others need a chaperone, nor do I!"

The kids had half an hour to unpack, which began with Lindsay screaming over a roach, which Duncan ended up slicing in half.

"Well, that's one way to kill a cockroach." Gwen said with a smirk.

Haley smiled, too. "And a damn effective way." she added.

Tyler was the one that told Lindsay to call him if he saw a cockroach again. "Cause, you know, I can do that too." he said. Lindsay smiled up at him.

"They always go for the jocks." Duncan scoffed. Haley couldn't help giggling.

But no one was laughing when they got lunch.

"Listen up!" the chef yelled like a drill sergeant. "I serve it three times a day, and you'll eat it three times a day! Grab a tray, get your food, and sit your butts down NOW!"

The group obeyed, but they weren't impressed with the food. Harold complained about his problems if he didn't get enough sugar, Gwen claimed her food was moving, Owen got yelled at for making a remark, Lindsay noted that her dietician said there were certain things she couldn't eat, and even Geoff asked if he could order a pizza.

Chris told the teams that their first challenge was in an hour.  
"What do you think they'll make us do?" Katie asked nervously.

"It's our first challenge." DJ pointed out. "How hard could it be?"

An hour later, the groups were wearing swimsuits and standing on a very high cliff.

"Way to jinx it, DJ." Haley muttered, looking up at the guy towering over her.

**There you go, the first episode. Sorry about all the exposition. I had to set up the whole "Courtney makes it her responsibility to look after Haley" thing and Haley's first impression of some of the others. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Now, on to the first challenge! Thanks for reviewing, ewisko and Sideshow Cellophane 26!**

Jumping off the cliff into the water wasn't the whole challenge. But according to Chris, that was the first part.

"Piece of cake." Bridgette said. But that was before the group discovered that they had to reach a particular zone, marked by buoys, which was the only shark-free zone in that part of the ocean. After that, they would be sent back to the shore to get supplies, which would be opened in the second part of their challenge, and for the last part, they had to make a hot tub out of the supplies. Whichever team made the best hot tub would escape elimination and get to have a hot tub party.

"Let's see..." Chris said. "Killer Bass, you're up first."

"Oh, wow." muttered Bridgette.

Haley surveyed the drop. The safe zone looked tiny from up here, but she knew from swimming lessons that she could land where she wanted from a lower diving board. Could she do it from this height? "Get it over with." she muttered to herself, not listening to the group.

"So who wants to go first?" Bridgette asked.

There was a pause. Then suddenly, Courtney said "Wait...where's Haley?"

"CANNONBALL!" a voice yelled from underneath them, just before a splash. The group looked down.

Haley popped out of the water, coughing a little, but she had landed well within the safe zone. "It's not as hard as it looks!" she called up. "And it's AWESOME!"

The rest of the group was spurred on by their youngest competitor doing that.

Bridgette made a perfect dive, while Tyler was safe, but hit a buoy. Eva, Geoff and Duncan also landed safely, but DJ seemed to be too scared to try.

"Scared of heights?" Chris asked.  
"Yeah," DJ admitted, "Ever since I was a kid."

"That's okay, big guy." Chris told him. "Unfortunately, that also makes you a chicken." he produced a chicken hat and plonked it on DJ's head. "So, you'll have to wear this for the rest of the day." He was pointed down the cliff the way they came up, and that was it.

Ezekiel and Harold landed safely, although the former hit a jutting-out rock on his way down.

"Excuse me, Chris," Courtney said, "I have a medical condition."

"What condition?"

"A condition that prevents me from jumping off cliffs."

Chris wasn't fooled. It was obvious that Courtney had just wimped out on the group. "It could end up costing your team the win." he warned her. "And then they'll hate you."

"It's a calculated risk." Courtney said calmly. "I've seen the other team, and I don't think ten of them will jump." Courtney also got a chicken hat and followed DJ to the shore.

Two hadn't jumped in the group so far. Izzy was still waiting, while Sadie insisted "I"m not jumping without Katie!"

"We have to be on the same team!" added Katie. "Please?"

Finally, Izzy volunteered to switch with Katie.

"Fine." Chris frowned. "You're both on the Killer Bass now. Izzy, you're on the Screaming Gophers." So the two best friends jumped, hand in hand.

The Screaming Gophers did better. Only Beth wimped out, and the group got carts to pull their supplies to camp since more of them had jumped. Justin didn't land in the safe zone, but the sharks seemed dazzled by his good looks and didn't kill him.

Meanwhile, the Bass had to push their carts themselves. Duncan kicked his along, while Eva seemed to be able to carry hers with ease.

"Ow!' exclaimed Courtney. "I think I just got a splinter."

Haley struggled with her one. Even after Courtney had wimped out on the group, she still seemed to be treating Haley as the kid she had to look out for, so they were pushing the same one. "In need of help here!" she called out.

Eva demonstrated how easy it was for her. "Shut up, and pick up your crate." she ordered the two girls. "Chicken." she added to Courtney.

"Hey, I'm the only one with CIT camping experience." Courtney argued. "You need me!"

The Gophers were already at work by the time most of the Bass had reached the campsite.

"Wow, Clay, you're really good at this." Cody was commenting to the boy with the vampiric complexion. "How come?"

Clay shrugged. "I do design and woodwork at school." he admitted. "Architecture and building is easy."

Haley's team wasn't in good shape, anyway. Something had bitten Courtney and her eye was swelling up. Katie and Sadie had accidentally gotten a rash from poison ivy and were sitting in the ocean, trying to calm their itches.

"What happened to your eye, girl?" Leshawna asked Courtney.

"Nothing! Just an allergy." Courtney told her. After that, she appointed herself project manager and started ordering people around, telling them what to do. "Open the crates. Bridgette, go find those itchy girls. We need all the help we can get."

But it was no use. Their hot tub was in bad shape, and their group didn't work together well enough. When Chris inspected it, it broke down, and the Screaming Gophers had won.

The Bass had to send someone home that evening, and at dinner, Courtney tried to get the group to decide straight off who they'd vote off.

"Well, I think it should be Princess or the brickhouse here." Duncan said, pointing to Courtney and DJ in turn.

"Logical." Haley mused. She didn't know whether she agreed, but she didn't argue. Personally, she'd been thinking Courtney – she was just too bossy, as well as having wimped out on the group.

"You guys need me!" Courtney insisted. "I'm the only one who-"

"We know." Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Who used to be a real CIT." Haley couldn't help giggling.

When Courtney suggested voting off Tyler, Lindsay had obviously been listening, because she stood up and exclaimed "No!" She covered it up, but it was obvious she liked him.

"At least he jumped off the cliff, chicken wing." Duncan pointed out. "Besides, I thought you wanted to set an example and help the little kid. Who jumped first."

"Shut up!" Courtney cried.

"I'm not a kid!" added Haley. "I"m two years younger than you, that's all." For some reason, Duncan calling her a little kid hurt more than she expected.

"Okay, let's just chill out." Geoff tried to break it up, and Duncan left, even though they hadn't decided.  
"I just don't get why we lost, eh." Ezekiel finally spoke up. "They're the ones that have six girls."

Everyone gasped. "We have six girls on our team!" Haley pointed out.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" added Bridgette.

"Guys are stronger and better at sports than girls are." Ezekiel said, seemingly ignorant of the fact that he was pissing off half his team. Courtney, Bridgette, Katie, Sadie and Haley were all glaring at him. Eva was about to strangle him.

"Oh snap, he did not just say that." Geoff said, looking a bit amused.

"My dad told me to look out for the girls," Ezekiel added, "And help them in case they can't keep up. 'Specially if they were littler."

Eva grabbed him by both hands by his neck. "Still think we need your help?"

While the boy was off the ground, Haley reached up and flicked Ezekiel's nose. "And if I needed your help, I'd ask for it. If you were going to 'help' the girls, why didn't you go back up to the cliff and shove Courtney off?"

"Haley!" Courtney snapped.

"What? You wimped out on us, remember?" Haley said.

Finally, Geoff stepped in and got Eva to put their sexist teammate down. "At least he doesn't think guys are smarter than girls." He pointed out.

"But they are."

The other girls exchanged glances. No doubt, Ezekiel was going down.

When Haley voted, she hesitated. Half of her was telling her to vote for Ezekiel like she planned, but another part of her wanted to vote for someone else.

But at the campfire, the vote was predictable. Chris would give each camper a marshmallow if they were still in the game. Then they could roast them by the fire. The camper that did not receive a marshmallow would have to walk to what Chris called the Dock of Shame, and board what he called the Boat of Losers.

One by one, each teenager took their marshmallow, until only Courtney and Ezekiel were left. Chris kept as much tension there as possible. Courtney was starting to bite her nails, and Ezekiel shivered.

"Courtney!"

Finally, the tension broke, and Courtney received her marshmallow.

"Can't say I'm shocked." Chris admitted to the sexist loser. "I saw you picking your nose, dude. Not cool. Dock of Shame is that way, bro."

The rest of the group enjoyed their marshmallows, although it was no consolation after they saw the Gophers enjoying their hot tub.

Haley went to the confessional afterwards. "I hope I've proved myself by jumping first." she said. "Although I think I got Courtney ticked off by saying Zeke should've pushed her off the cliff." She smirked. "Oh well, maybe it'll stop her treating me like a kid."

**That's the chapter! Next up, the Wake-A-Thon!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Right! Let's keep going! Thank you to ewisko, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and the guest reviewer!**

The air horn sounded through the camp the next day. Haley was in no way a morning person, but luckily, most of the campers were slow in getting up too, groaning as they left their bunks.

Chris explained that they'd get breakfast after their next challenge started – a twenty kilometre run around the lake.

"Oh, so you're funny now." Eva muttered sarcastically. "You know what I think would be funny?" She lunged forward, but Geoff and Duncan held her back.

"Try to control your temper!" Courtney hissed.

Haley resolved not to get on Eva's bad side. That girl was only two years older than her, but she was scary.

Haley was running with the fastest for a while, but then she lagged behind and started walking. She was with Sadie and Katie, who were both walking.

"So, you guys," she said, "How are things going?"

The two girls looked over at her, as if they hadn't realized she was there. They probably hadn't.

"Apart from this run, which is probably going to kill me?" Katie said.

"Me too." added Sadie. "But at least it's both of us."

Haley gave up. Evidently, the only thing those girls were interested in was each other. She lagged even further back, where Gwen and Harold were walking.

"Hi." she introduced herself to the goth. "I'm Haley."

"I know." muttered Gwen.

"It sucks getting up this early, right?" Haley said. "I am ready to kill Chris when and if we get back."

Gwen half-smiled. "Me too." she admitted.

Luckily, Haley sped up towards the end and got back to the lodge just ahead of the twin best friends. But Harold was last in, and the Gophers thought they'd won the challenge.

"Hold your horses!" Chris laughed. "That wasn't the challenge!"

The Gophers were pretty annoyed that they'd run like crazy, yet it wasn't even the challenge. However, no one cared about the run after they saw the huge feast they were given. Most of them ate until they were stuffed. After the chef's 'food', it looked and tasted like heaven.

But then Chris revealed what the challenge was: Staying awake.

"So," Gwen worked out. "What you're saying is the twenty k run and the turkey eating frenzy was all part of your evil plan to make it harder for us to stay awake?"

Chris gave them five minutes to get what they might want from the cabins, but then, it was just sitting around, trying to stay awake.

Owen was the first to go at twelve hours. Haley tried to start up a conversation with Bridgette. Heather set up an alliance with Lindsay and Beth. Courtney jogged on the spot, no matter how tired she got.

By the twenty-four hour mark, Bridgette was down, followed by the non-twins. Haley was too fatigued to work out who was asleep on the other team, but she knew Gwen was still awake, since she could hear her talking to Trent.

Then Chris pulled out a book of the most boring fairy tales he could find and started reading them out while Chef played the harp, and that was it. After 36 hours, Haley was out. The last thing she saw was Courtney, still moving, moving, moving.

When she woke up, it had turned out Justin had fallen asleep standing up, with his eyelids painted so it looked like he was still awake. He was out. Trent and Gwen were still in, though, as was Heather. In her team, Duncan had stayed awake, and after a few days, was still awake enough to dip Harold's hand in warm water, and soon a damp patch appeared on Harold's crotch. Haley giggled at that. Eva's eyes were still open by that time, too.

Then Noah woke up to find he was kissing Cody's ear. Both of them screamed when they realized it.

After nearly four days, the sleepers were allowed to shower while the rest of the group stayed.

Eva was the first of the final five to go down. Then Heather, and then Trent. Finally, it was just Duncan and Gwen.

But the Screaming Gophers won when Duncan fell asleep during a bathroom break.

Later on, Eva was getting furious about something – no one asked what. She threw everything out of the cabin door. Everyone was too scared to stop her.

"Remind me what she's lost." Haley muttered.  
Before anyone could answer, Eva poked her head out of the window. "WHERE IS MY MP3 PLAYER? One of you must've stolen it!"

None of them had, but then Heather came walking up cheerfully with the MP3 in hand. "I was wondering who it belonged to. I found it by the campfire pit."

Haley thought Bridgette looked a bit suspicious of Heather. That gave her an idea of what really happened. "Bet she stole it." Haley whispered to her. "I don't get why she gave it back, though."

Bridgette shrugged.

"So," Eva said sheepishly, "Sorry about that little...misunderstanding. Guess no one stole it after all. Maybe I overreacted."

Before the campfire ceremony, Haley decided to take one last catnap to keep her awake. It was Courtney who woke her up. "Haley, it's voting time!" she told her, adding in a whisper "We're voting for Eva."

Haley sighed. "Courtney, are you seriously telling me who to vote for? I know I'm younger, but I can choose who to vote for."

Courtney was offended. "I'm just suggesting it!" she said. "I'm trying to help you."

Haley shrugged. "Sure it wouldn't be better to vote for who fell asleep first? Not that I want to – I like Bridgette, but Eva's a strong competitor."

"Come on!" Courtney pleaded. "Everyone else has voted for her."

Haley went to the confessional after casting her vote. "Courtney has to stop being so bossy." she said. "Otherwise, I'm voting her off next."

But Eva was gone, this time at least.

**Sorry this is going so slowly. Dodgeball won't be so bad.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Now, let's go! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 (yes, luckily she missed it).**

Harold snored the whole of the next night, much to the sleeplessness of the Killer Bass. Even the girls could hear him through the wall. Through either sleeplessness or good will, Haley began to feel a bit more sympathetic towards Courtney. "Hey." she whispered early in the morning. "Courtney. I'm sorry I snapped at you – I know you just want to help our team win."

Courtney leaned over from her bunk. "That's okay, Haley – we're all a little irritated from the Wake-A-Thon and now this." she waved in the direction of the boys' side.

Duncan was especially tired at breakfast the next morning, since he'd lasted nearly as long as Gwen in the last challenge. "Four nights with no sleep!" Chris laughed. "How much are you hurting, dude?"

"Wanna find out?"

Chris held up his hands. "No, no, it's cool, it's cool."

"Quit being so damn happy!" Haley groaned. "Chris, it's really NOT cool to laugh in our faces. At least the audience isn't watching us live – they can laugh because we don't know they are."

Across the room, Heather was telling Lindsay and Beth the rules of the alliance, which seemed to be to do with making things all about her. After that, she called over "Hey, fish heads! Way to kick out your strongest player!" Courtney threw oatmeal at her, but Heather sidestepped and it hit Gwen. "Missed me!"

Haley had enough and walked over to Heather. She didn't touch her, but stood on tiptoe to look the girl in the eye. "I knew you were up to something with that MP3 player!" she hissed. "Give me one more reason to tell your airhead alliance what you're really like..."

"Oh, I'm _so _scared." Heather replied sarcastically. "Go back to your table and get that juice box you need, baby."

"Oh, so now you're teasing me because I'm fourteen?" Haley said. "How predictable and immature. Get a life. And while you're at it, get off the island!" She walked away before Heather could reply.

It didn't help that Haley knew she was going to be useless at the next challenge. It was a dodgeball game, and the only person that seemed capable of losing to her was Lindsay, who barely realized whether she needed to catch the ball to kick the thrower out of the game or if she needed to get hit.

Duncan was the last to get to the place set up for the game. He slumped onto one of the benches, warning his team "Wake me up, and it'll be the last thing you do."

Chris told everyone what they were doing, going over the rules (Noah suggested that rule one was "do not talk about dodgeball") about catching a ball, getting hit by a ball, or deflecting a ball with another ball.

Noah's reaction was "Oh, gee, throwing balls, another mentally challenging test."

"I know, right?" said Lindsay, taking him seriously.

The game was a best out of five, with five playing each one. Haley played the first game, and even got Lindsay out, but Owen, the Gopher's strongest player, got her out. She did play the second game too, but she was out first and refused to play again. Owen's dodgeball skills were amazing.

"I'm glad someone is trying today." Heather commented, glaring at Noah who spent the whole game reading.

"Oh, sorry." he said. "Woohoo, way to throw those murder balls. Go, team, go." He had no team spirit at all.

Clay proved to be a pretty good player, too. He managed to get Katie and Sadie out at the same time at one point, and Katie had proved to be their best player so far.

"Okay." Courtney said to her team after the second game. "This is really bad. One more game, and we lose the whole challenge. Again. We can't let that happen, people!"

"I have one suggestion." Haley piped up. "Although it may result in death." She looked at the one player who hadn't played yet.

There was a pause. Finally, DJ spoke up. "Uh-uh. We wake him up again, he'll kill us!"

Haley shrugged. "I said so. But Duncan is our only hope to win. Even if one of us dies."

"He won't kill us, Hales." Courtney said confidently. "He wants to win too." Harold backed her up, but he wasn't so keen when Courtney told him to do the waking up.

He frowned, saying "It was Haley's idea. She should do it. She's the youngest, it's harder to hurt innocence. Besides, we could lose her for this challenge and not suffer."

Haley scowled. "You suck at dodgeball too, Harold. You do it."

"You do it!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Okay, okay." Haley sighed. "If you're such a wimp, you'll be gone soon anyway. I'm not scared of him."

Haley looked at Duncan, just for a moment. That was probably the point when she realized it.

She liked him. She actually liked the delinquent. She had no idea why, although she'd laughed when he'd played that prank on Harold and, as she'd said, she had a thing for piercings on guys.

Finally, she gently shook Duncan's shoulder. His hand immediately shot up and grabbed hers, and he opened his eyes.

"You better have a good reason for-"

"We're losing at dodgeball and we need to win the last three games and we know you're really tired but we really need your help and please don't kill me!" Haley said in a rush. "They made me ask you because I'm the youngest."

Duncan smirked. "Slow down, I didn't get any of that except that the rest of our team thinks I'd go easier on someone because they're younger – but fourteen isn't that young." He lowered his voice and said "Although you do look older."

Haley felt butterflies and said quickly, "Well...Courtney will fill you in." She had to admit, no matter how much of a jerk Duncan could be, his smirk was kind of cute. Had he been flirting with her, she wondered. But then again, she reflected, the other guys she'd met like him had a tendency to enjoy messing with girls. He had barely talked to her before then – either he'd just noticed her, or he was just teasing her.

Courtney repeated what Haley had said in her own words, to which Duncan challenged "Oh, and why should I help you, _darling?_" Haley knew it had been mocking, but she still felt a sting. If guys picking on girls meant you liked them, than she'd need to do something to get rid of her silly little crush.

"Because," Courtney was answering, "I can personally garuantee you that if we lose this game, you'll be the one going home. _Darling."_

And that's why they won the next two games and didn't have to send anyone home that week. Instead, Noah took the fall for the Screaming Gophers.

Courtney was sitting on the porch by herself when Haley sat down next to her. "Courtney," she said shyly, "You hate Duncan, right?"

Courtney nodded firmly. "Of course I do! He's so immature and insensitive. Not to mention mean."

Haley shrugged. "I think he likes you." she admitted.

Courtney jumped. "What?"

"He's been trying to annoy you in particular." Haley pointed out. "That's what guys do when they like a girl. The reason I wanted to talk to you is...well...I kind of like him."

Courtney shot to her feet. "Haley!" she exclaimed. "You did _not _just tell me that you have a crush on Duncan. You can do so much better, sweetie! Seriously, don't go after him." She sounded almost...jealous.

Haley scowled. "I don't care about better or worse. If you really hate Duncan, why are you acting all possessive if you don't like him?"

"I'm not!" Courtney denied. "It's you I'm worried about. Honestly, he's not the right guy for anyone, really."

Little did the girls know that there was someone who had been around and had ended up unintentionally eavesdropping. He stored up that information. Maybe he should tell someone...or would it be better to ask the girls about it?

**Ooh, so who do you think was listening to Courtney and Haley? It's obviously a guy. Guess in the reviews!**

**And check out my new Total Drama story, "Kiss Me, But Don't Let Me Love You". I finished this one – the chapters just need to be uploaded, so I've started on this new one. Review, and this story will be uploaded faster! The times between updating depends on the reviews I get.**


	6. Chapter 5

**So...let me see, what was up next? Oh yeah, the talent show! And just so you know, Haley might take Courtney's place in some scenes coming up in the next few challenges. The song here is "Watch Me Shine" by Joanna Pacitti. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

Haley could've sworn that Duncan had been glancing at her during breakfast, but that was probably wishful thinking, in her opinion. But then, she hadn't seen the little slip of paper that had floated down onto Duncan's bunk that read _Haley has a thing for you – and Courtney says she doesn't, but I think she does._

However, everyone was a bit more cheerful now that the fatigue had worn off. After breakfast, they all sat down outside what looked like a ampitheatre.

"Are we going to see a musical?" Lindsay asked excitedly. "I love musicals, especially the ones with singing and dancing!"

"Gwen, saved you a seat." Trent called to the goth. Cody tried to copy Trent's stance, obviously trying to impress Gwen, but he fell over. Lindsay waved to Tyler, who waved back.

As it turned out, the challenge was a talent contest. "Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented campers. They will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle...anything goes! As long as it's legal."

Duncan snapped his fingers for some reason – probably because he had no legal talents. Haley couldn't help feeling tense. She wondered if she was going crazy – after all, she didn't even know why, but this crush was strong...and she'd barely known Duncan for any longer than two weeks! Than again, she'd never met anyone like him. She didn't know any delinquents, and most bad-boy types she knew were jerks without charm. Duncan was a jerk, but he did have that charm – that careless kind with a habit of sounding flirtatious whenever addressing a girl, no matter who it was.

The chef was judging the talent show, and whoever got the lower score would send someone home.

With the Screaming Gophers, Heather appointed herself captain and started bossing everyone around. One by one, the Killer Bass showed what they could do. Katie and Sadie did a boring dance routine, while Tyler tried some tricks and ended up wrapped in string. Soon, he went off to go and make out with Lindsay. Bridgette could stand on her head for twenty minutes, but that was more of a trick than a talent. DJ did a pretty good dance with ribbon, though. Harold barely got a chance, but Courtney could play the violin, and Geoff could do a skateboarding routine. Sadly, Courtney's violin got broken before she could play at the show. Bridgette was proving she could stand on her hands, but she pretty much ended up breaking a rope holding up a stage light and Courtney's violin paid the price.

"You broke my violin!" Courtney was almost in tears.

"I didn't mean to!" cried Bridgette.

Haley put her arm around Courtney. She didn't always like the older girl, but she felt sorry for her. "Come on, Courtney, don't cry. If it was someone else's violin, what would you tell us? We still have to win! Do you want me to show my talent? I know it's not very original, but I can try."

Courtney tried to pull herself back together, although she seemed to have forgotten that she was trying to look after the younger girl. She managed a nod.

Haley could think of a song that fitted her situation – people thinking she wasn't strong because she was young. She thought of the intro playing in her mind, and then opened her mouth.

"_I'm not your average type of girl, I'm gonna show the world_

_The strength in me that sometimes they can't see_

_I'm about to switch my style, and soon things may get wild,_

_But I'll prove that I can conquer anything_

_So from my head to toe, I'm taking full control, I'll make it on my own this time..."_

Haley's voice flew, especially when she reached the bridge, belting the words out like any pop star. _"Bet you don't think I can take it, but my mind and body are strong_

_Bet you don't think I can make it, it won't take long..."_

The Bass all clapped after that. "Where'd you get that voice?" Bridgette said. "You were fantastic, Haley!"

"You got an amazing pair of lungs there." DJ agreed.

Haley tried not to let her eyes flick towards her crush, but it happened. He smirked – looking a bit flirtatious – and said "You've got a pretty voice there, beautiful."

Haley's heart pounded at the name, although she'd seen enough movies to know that it didn't mean anything. Courtney caught her eye and read her expression. _"He's trouble." _she mouthed.

"_Maybe I like trouble." _Haley mouthed back. She could tell that however much Courtney denied it, she was jealous that someone else liked Duncan. But she also knew that he'd like it better if she didn't act so easily impressed, so she just shrugged it off.

The talent contest was interesting. Justin's talent was...unclear, but he at least looked good while doing it. DJ ended up getting caught in the ribbon he was dancing with, so that didn't work out too well, and Chef gave him a low mark. Then Trent sang and played his guitar. No one needed to be told that the song was for Gwen.

Next up was supposed to be Haley. She went out there, she tried to sing, and she stayed in tune. But her voice was too quiet, so Chef gave her a mediocre mark.

Heather was next. She had planned to dance, but instead, she had aquired Gwen's diary, and read out a passage in front of everyone about who they could only assume to be Trent, since she mentioned he played guitar..although Cody seemed to think it was him up until then.

"That was so mean." Courtney commented.

"Seriously." Bridgette agreed.

"What do you expect?" Haley asked. "Heather's the queen of mean."

And then Geoff broke his skateboard. Luckily, Harold saved the day with his mad beatboxing skills. No one had anticipated it, but Harold won for the Killer Bass.

It didn't make any sense, but the Gophers sent Justin home. It turned out his pretty-boy looks weren't enough.

**Next, we will not only have the outdoors challenge. No, I've got another idea in mind. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Chapter 6

**Right. Next up! Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

"Campers," Chris said the next day, "I have some disappointing news. The company hosting Total Drama doesn't have enough room for two episodes we'd scheduled. So before we continue, we have to send one person from each team home."

The group gasped, but then Chris laughed. "Just kidding!" he said. "But seriously, we do have to eliminate one extra camper." He pointed at the boat that was waiting at the dock.

Suddenly, Clay smiled. "I'll go, I'm sick of being stuck on this island. So long, suckers!" So the Screaming Gophers were down to nine people.

"Okaaaayyy..." Chris said as the teenager reached the boat. "That was weird. Anyway, onto the challenge! It'll test your survival skills. I'm not gonna lie to you – some of you may not come back alive." When he got another gasp, he assured them "Just joking. All you have to do is spend one night in the woods."

It was half survival, half orienteering, and the teams seemed to be up for it. They just needed to find tents in the woods and put them up, then go back to the main camp the next day. Whichever team got back first won. "Oh, and watch out for bears." Chris added.

Izzy started babbling to her team about a bear encounter, and Owen bragged about one he had. However, the Bass simply set off, although they unwittingly lost Sadie and Katie. Then, when they pitched their tent, Geoff tried to compliment Bridgette and accidentally insulted her by telling her she pitched the tent like a guy, as in, she wasn't being a damsel in distress about it.

Duncan addressed Courtney. "What's for dinner, woman? I'm starving!"

"I hope you don't expect me to dignify that with a response." Courtney replied coldly.

Haley suddenly decided to step in. "How are we supposed to know what to eat if you boys don't catch it? If we cook, you're supposed to hunt. So what are we cooking, boy?"

Duncan seemed a little impressed that Haley had turned the tables on him. At least, he started trying to get at Haley for the rest of the evening, and the younger girl saw that Courtney was trying to hide that she was a little disappointed and jealous. Having seen the same expression on her face when Duncan paid attention to Courtney, Haley recognized it, and wondered for the first time if she should be doing this to Courtney.

But she was distracted by other things for most of the night. DJ went off to find something to eat and came back with a pet rabbit. Then Duncan decided to tell a scary story, ending with him showing off a hook on his hand, claiming that the killer with the hook was still out there somewhere. Afterwards, he burst out laughing at the scared faces of the others, at which point Courtney started yelling at him. "Duncan, that was so not funny!"

"Yes, it was!" laughed Duncan. "I just wish it was all on camera...oh wait, it is!" Haley started giggling, too, much to Courtney's annoyance.

Trying to pretend it wasn't her that got scared, Courtney added "Seriously, you'll give Haley nightmares! We have to be responsible!"

Haley stopped giggling and scowled, but said nothing.

"Do your parents even like you?" Courtney snapped.

"I don't know, Jumpy McChicken, I haven't asked them lately."

"Courtney, lay off." Haley said. She whispered to Courtney "You know, he's only doing this because he wants you to pay attention to him. If you hate him as much as you say, you'd ignore him."

Courtney was frustrated, that was obvious. She wanted to keep reacting, but she didn't want people to know she was doing it for a reason.

They heard a howling in the distance, and both Courtney and Haley jumped and grabbed onto the nearest person. It happened to be Duncan. Neither of them noticed a certain member of their team giving him the thumbs up, but then mouthing "_Which girl?" _Duncan shrugged.

It didn't help that later that night, Bridgette accidentally burned the tent, leaving the Killer Bass with nothing to cover them.

"Oh, that's just great, Bridgette!" screamed Courtney. "Now we have nowhere to sleep!"

Haley stepped in first. "Stop yelling, Courtney, Bridgette doesn't have anywhere to sleep either! We should talk about it like mature adults. It could be worse."

"No, things could not possibly get worse!" And then it started raining. The whole night, the group huddled under a sopping leaf.

Haley slept pretty heavily. The next morning, she was the last person to wake up. And she only woke up because she was being shaken. "Hey, baby doll, I'd like to be able to get up."

Haley's eyes shot open, and the first thing she saw was a fabric skull. Immediately, she shot up, realizing that she'd ended up sleeping right next to Duncan...practically using him as a pillow.

"What the heck happened?" Courtney asked.

"I dunno." Haley mumbled.

"I was just innocently trying to catch a few Zs." Duncan said coolly. "She cuddled up to me."

"You are such an ogre – not just to me, but to her as well!" Courtney snapped.

"I've been called worse." Duncan said calmly.

"I don't care if it's about me," Courtney said, "But leave Haley alone! She's fourteen years old!"

Haley wasn't uptight Courtney, and she wasn't going to act that way. If Duncan was going to flirt with her, she was going to say something back other than a rebuttal. "Don't worry about it, Courtney." She smirked herself as she turned to Duncan. "I had a rather comfortable night, actually. Mind doing that a few more nights?" The older boy seemed to appreciate her comment.

"What was that comment about?" Courtney whispered as they walked back.

Haley shrugged. "He's been flirting with both of us. I thought I'd take a different approach to you. You push him away, I flirt back."

"If you think I'm playing hard to get, stop thinking that right now." Courtney said firmly. "I don't like that total Neanderthal that way – or in any way at all."

Haley mumbled something like "Keep telling yourself that," and ran ahead before Courtney could understand what she'd said.

The Killer Bass lost the challenge after losing the "twins", but at least they arrived back alive, just in time to have Courtney yell at them for losing them the challenge.

It was hard to decide who to vote for, but Haley, like the rest of the group, decided on Katie. When the dark skinned girl didn't receive a marshmallow, Sadie cried "I can't do this! I've never been anywhere without Katie! We have to be together or I'll totally die!"

"Sadie, listen to me." said a more composed Katie. "You can do this. You are strong and beautiful and, like, maybe even smarter than me." She wanted Sadie to stay in the competition for both of them.

Haley gave a cheer as Sadie walked her best friend down to the Dock Of Shame, thinking their independence should be encouraged, but stopped as the girls started calling to each other. "I miss you already!"

"I miss you more!"

"No, I miss you more!"

"No way, I totally miss you more!"

"I miss you infinitely more!"

Haley groaned.

**I thought it was about time Haley chose her way to do things. And yes, exactly, I chose to have Haley be the one finding herself cuddled up to Duncan. Courtney is protective of the youngest girl in the group and also a bit jealous, so she's actually just as annoyed as she was if it was her. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Right! Let's continue, shall we? Thank you to the guest reviewer.**

The Screaming Gophers had been rewarded from the last challenge with a trip to the tuck shop, so they came by to ask the Killer Bass if they wanted their extra. Gwen admitted they were only at the campfire pit because they wanted to air out their after Owen left a lot of gas in there.

Courtney suddenly gave a squeal of shock when Beth offered her some of the green Jell-O, then said quickly that she didn't want any. Than DJ thought the gummy worm was a snake and freaked out. That led to everyone talking about their fears. Beth was scared of being covered in bugs, Gwen feared being buried alive, Trent couldn't stand mimes, Cody wouldn't be able to defuse a time bomb under pressure, Lindsay and Sadie agreed on bad haircuts (although at first, Lindsay said walking through a minefield in high heels and changed it when Sadie mentioned her fear), and Izzy and Owen had a fear of flying. Tyler couldn't face chickens, Bridgette was terrified of being alone in the woods, Geoff had a fear of hail, Leshawna hated spiders, and Heather was scared of sumo wrestlers, while Harold was afraid of ninjas. Courtney insisted she wasn't afraid of anything, and then said quickly "What about you, Hales?"

Haley thought about it, then said reluctantly, "Well, there was this cardboard cut out of Freddy Krueger – you know, that guy from the _Nightmare On Elm Street _movies? I saw a standee of him one time, and then I dreamed that it had come to life and was coming after me. I'm not scared of the cut-out – I'm scared of Freddy becoming real and coming after me." She sighed. "Courtney, you're lying though, aren't you? You must have a fear. Come on, we've all told ours."

"I wasn't lying." Courtney insisted. "Really. I'm not particularly afraid of anything."

"Baloney!" Duncan pretended to cough.

Before Courtney could answer, Haley said "Oh yeah, forgot about him. Duncan, what's your fear?"

There was a pause as everyone looked at him. Finally, "C-Celine Dion music store standees."

After everyone had had a good laugh at Duncan's fear, they tried to get Courtney to tell her fear. She refused. "Nothing!" she insisted.

"That's not what she said last night." Duncan muttered, making it sound like a gutter comment.

Haley chuckled and said "As I recall, it was me that woke up next to you."

"Getting a bit M-rated there, baby doll." Duncan teased her. "I wouldn't have thought it of you." If he'd said that to Courtney, she would have huffed angrily, but Haley just laughed, although she also knew he was making a reference to her age and size with the name he'd started calling her.

That night, Haley overheard two male voices talking, just as she was coming out of the bathroom. She wasn't sure who they were, but didn't look to see. She was too tired to figure them out.

"So aren't you going to choose? It's not fair to lead both on."

"Just because you're making it really obvious you're in love with the surfer doesn't mean I have to pick one girl and be clear about it."

"It's not about being obvious. Just gradually lose interest in one and concentrate on the other. I didn't tell you about them to hurt them."

"C'mon, man, I'm not going to hurt them. It's just so much fun to see their reactions – they're so different!"

But the next morning, Haley had no time to think about it, because Chris had a doozy of a challenge – and it was a different one for each contestant.

They all had to face their worst fears. First, Beth dived into a kiddie pool full of bugs. Heather faced a sumo wrestler and he fell over her. Bridgette went to spend six hours alone in the woods. DJ had to hold a little garden snake. Gwen went into a glass crate and was buried in the sand for five minutes. Izzy and Owen had to fly in a rickety plane, while Sadie and Lindsay wore wigs with bad haircuts all day.

Trent stayed by Gwen for most of her five minutes, keeping in contact with a walkie-talkie, but ran away screaming when a mime came after him – just as Chris told him all he had to do was ask the mime to go away. Haley had been watching DJ trying to get the snake, but heard a creepy voice calling her name and saw the iconic figure from the terrifying horror movie, claw glove and all. She screamed and ran, never looking back. Chris' voice echoed after her. "He's a dream, Hales! Prove that you're not scared and he won't be real anymore!"

Luckily, after a few minutes, Haley got her senses back. She reminded herself that Freddy was unreal, and faced the character head on, and echoed Nancy's words from the movie. "This is just a dream. You're not alive. This whole thing is just a dream. I take back every bit of energy – and fear – I gave you. You're nothing...you're shit." Finally, she turned her back for a moment, and he was gone.

And that was it. Krueger had just been a hologram. She'd scored a point for the Killer Bass. Geoff also endured the electronic hail.

As for the Celine Dion standee, Duncan managed to give it a hug. Haley and Courtney both gave him support. "She's pretty, she's nice." Courtney pointed out. She tried her hardest to make it seem less scary. She even said sincerely that it was okay if he couldn't do it.

"You can do it." Haley whispered, her voice serious. "Prove it. Prove you're not scared of anything." And that was when the delinquent went up to the cardboard and wrapped his arms around it, eyes still wide with fear. Everyone cheered, Courtney and Haley loudest of all.

but there were still some people who didn't face their fears. Trent managed to face his mime, but Cody didn't defuse his time bomb and ended up covered in garbage and met up with Bridgette, who ran back to camp, screaming at the sight of him. He looked like a zombie. Tyler couldn't face his chickens, either, too scared. Finally, it was deduced what Courtney was scared of. Her reactions had shown – to face her fear, she had to jump into a pool of green Jell-O. She explained that it reminded her of snot. But she couldn't do it.

The biggest amount of people wimped out on the Killer Bass, while the only one wimping out on the Screaming Gophers was Cody.

Tyler ended up voted off, while everyone else was safe, yet again, even though Haley had nightmares about the master of nightmares all evening.

**There's the chapter! Hope you liked it.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Right. We're continuing the story. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

"Haley?"

"Hales, are you okay?"

"Wake up!"

Haley opened her eyes to see all three of the girls still on her team giving her concerned looks. "What happened?" she asked.

"You were whimpering." Sadie told her.

"Nightmare?" Bridgette asked sympathetically. "I know I was ready to have one when I remember what Cody looked like coming towards me yesterday..." she shuddered.

"And this time, turning my back and insisting it was just a dream didn't make him go away." Haley admitted in a tiny voice. She'd been acting flirtatious and teasing so much recently that this vulnerability was new to the girls. She'd had that unspoken but clear confidence even before she decided she had a crush, but this was definitely the most young that anyone had ever seen her. Had she not been petite with a younger look to her, the team wouldn't have felt protective at all until then. But after all, she was two years younger, and never had that been clearer than in Haley's nightmares. Even ditzy Sadie felt protective at that moment.

Courtney jumped down from her bunk and gave Haley a hug. "You'll never have to face that again." she comforted the younger girl. "That challenge is over. Besides, you were so brave to be able to face it. I couldn't do it."

It was a good thing the next challenge involved being in partners, rather than having to concentrate alone. The group had to take canoes to a place called Boney Island, hike to the other side with the canoe, make a fire, then get back. The team that got back to Wawanakwa first would be the ones to win immunity. Chris added that if they brought anything back from the island, legend had it that they would be cursed. And with that, the Bass and the Gophers headed to the beach. Well, Beth was a little late, but she caught up quickly, and she and Lindsay immediately pounced on Trent while Cody quickly grabbed Gwen as his partner.

Sadie immediately said "Haley, be my partner for the canoeing?"

Haley smiled and said "Definitely." Haley and Sadie didn't really know each other that well, but the older girl had figured after the nightmares, Haley needed a friend that wasn't a control freak.

As it turned out, the two girls had more in common than they thought. Haley wasn't Katie, but Sadie still genuinely began to like her. They started swapping stories about all the stupid things they'd done. Even when Haley asked about what had happened when the girls got lost on the wilderness challenge, Sadie explained how they'd found blueberries and hadn't noticed the group had left, although she left out her fight with Katie.

Haley couldn't help liking Sadie. She was a much more interesting person, once she had a personality other than "Katie's BFF".

"When did you and Katie become friends, anyway?" she asked.

"When we became neighbours." Sadie answered. "We totally hit it off, like, right away, and our moms became BFFs, so now, me and Katie, we're like this." She twisted two fingers together. Suddenly, her face crumpled. "I've never been away from her for more than a few hours! I miss her so much!"

"Sadie, don't cry." Haley pleaded. "Remember, Katie's counting on you to go on for her. She's probably watching us right now...that is," she added, glancing around, "If they've decided to show us, instead of Beth and Lindsay monopolizing Trent, or Cody trying to hit on Gwen, or Bridgette and Courtney laughing about that cheesy little gift Geoff left Bridgette." The two girls giggled. They'd seen it before Bridgette came back, but Courtney hadn't, so they knew the blonde would be telling her all about it.

Everyone touched land at the same time. "Okay, did you see that skull?" Izzy said enthusiastically, referring to the carved rock. "How cool is that? It's like this place is haunted or something!"

There were skulls everywhere, making most of the competitors feel very uneasy. Then halfway through running, Geoff hurt his leg and couldn't stand. Haley couldn't help noticing that Bridgette was very concerned about him, but DJ had to grab Courtney's arm to haul her back. "We're not leaving any man behind. Not on my watch." he told her.

In the end, DJ and Harold carried Geoff on top of a canoe, and were soon on the other side of the island, ready to build their fire. Luckily, although the other team got there first, they got a fire started quicker, since Duncan was carrying a lighter around. The Killer Bass had the pleasure of seeing Heather get really pissed, especially when Chris, hovering above in a helicopter, pointed out that there were no rules against it.

But then Harold tried to get the fire bigger by tossing the nearest wood he could find on it – the paddles.

"How are we supposed to get home now?" snapped Bridgette.

Not to mention that it was for nothing, since Izzy's homemade fire starter beat their little fire by miles. But then again, Izzy did suggest what they could do without paddles on their way back. "You could always have someone swim behind the canoes and push them." She started talking about her having done that with some others with something else, but it didn't make much sense. "Okay, later!" she finished, laughing.

"Thanks, Iz!" Haley yelled after the off-kilter redhead. And in spite of his fear of water, DJ overcame it and pushed all of the canoes back, and they actually were back before the Gophers, just by the tiniest amount.

"The Bass are the winners!" announced Chris.

The group started cheering, while Leshawna yelled at Izzy for giving them the idea.

"Okay, you are so lucky that my license to kill has expired." was Izzy's unconcerned reply, but she ran away when Leshawna raised a paddle.

Even the Bass heard what went down at the elimination campfire. They heard the helicopters and the loudspeaker calling for Izzy (turned out she was wanted), and the redhead's scream of "YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIVE!" echoed across the island.

"Not gonna lie." Haley said in the confessionals. "I'm gonna miss Izzy. We didn't see each other much, but she seemed like fun." She shrugged and smiled. "Oh well, at least there's still one delinquent still in the game."

**Not much development in the relationship department this chapter, but hey, Haley's made friends with Sadie! Please review.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Right! Let's continue on, shall we? Thanks for your reviews, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and Bloody-Asphobe11.**

Everyone was annoyed the next day when Heather decided to hog the bathroom, leaving all the other girls waiting outside. Gwen eventually lost patience and ran into the woods. And none of the girls had time to be done in the bathroom and have breakfast, not even Beth and Lindsay, who were next in line. Anyway, they had to go to the campfire pit for breakfast.  
It was a can of beans. Heather complained, but Owen, at least, seemed satisfied.

Basically, the idea was paintball hunting. The teams would be divided into hunters and deer, and the deer would try not to get hit with the paintball guns the hunters carried. Haley, along with Bridgette, Geoff and Harold, were hunters, so they wore army-coloured hats, as well as the orange glasses they all wore for safety. The deer had to wear fake antlers, noses and tails. Both Heather (fashion victim problems) and Duncan (street cred, besides not keen on being a victim) complained, but Chris steamrollered on "Take these off, and your team is toast." It didn't help that Owen laughed and called Duncan "Bambi".

The deer got a headstart, luckily. But Bridgette was still reluctant to hunt, even if it was just with paintballs. By that time, the team knew she was vegetarian, and was too nice to like the idea. Courtney would've made a much more effective hunter. But she perked right up when Harold mentioned Heather.

"Wait...Heather's a deer?" Bridgette cocked her gun with an evil chuckle.

"Let's get back at her for hogging the bathrooms and being...well, a bitch!" called Haley, running ahead. She split up from the other hunters, so she didn't have the pleasure of seeing Heather getting paintballed.

It took her ages to find anyone. But after more and more aimless wandering, seeing no one, she finally heard two familiar voices. "Very funny, now let me go!"

"Hey, princess, this isn't my idea of fun either!"

Haley crouched behind a tree. Her two teammates had their antlers caught in each other. Irrational jealousy welled up in her again, although she knew perfectly well that this wasn't planned.

"Great, Duncan." Courtney snapped. "Now what?"

There was a pause.

"You wanna make out?"

Haley couldn't stand it. Although they were on her team, she pelted them with a few blue paintballs. After that, she stepped back, exclaiming "Oh no! Duncan, Courtney, I'm so sorry, I just saw antlers and I thought...oh, I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

Courtney scowled. "Not at all. Haley, do you think you could untangle our antlers, please?"

But before she could, the loudspeakers sounded, with Chris calling them back. As such, Courtney and Duncan didn't get to be untangled until after getting back to camp. The other campers took one look and teased them.

"Oh, this is too much." grinned Gwen.

"Duncan, you sly dog, you!" Owen exclaimed.

Duncan only smirked. "The girl can't keep her antlers off me." he said. He glanced over at Haley and added "And the littler one can't stay away for long."

Haley smirked right back and said "I was hunting for you. I wouldn't mind if you wanted to hunt me down, next time." Courtney simply kicked Duncan in that sensitive place and shot a glare at Haley, mouthing _"Don't encourage him!"_ Although he got Haley's suggestive comment, he didn't have much time to dwell on it.

"Easy, Courtney." Chris said. "Our medical tent's only equipped for one person at a time, and Cody's pretty messed up." The boy in question could have passed for a mummy in a wheelchair by that time.

Although the Bass had two members painted, there were more Gophers, hunters and deer alike, so they were sent to elimination. Although the team really didn't need to vote. Beth had broken her alliance with Heather, so she and Lindsay were obviously going to vote her off. But Cody's condition made it pretty clear that he had to go.

However, Haley saw Beth at the Dock.

"Hey, Beth, wait up!" she called. "You're not going, right?"

"No, I'm just wheeling Cody to the boat." Beth said. "I was telling him all about how I finally broke the alliance and said no to Heather's orders."

Haley grinned. "You stood up to Heather? High-five, girl!" The two of them slapped palms. "Now if only Lindsay could think to do the same..." Haley knelt down next to the bandaged boy and said "Bye, Cody. I know I didn't get to know you, but I'll still kind of miss you. I'll tell Gwen you send your love, right?"

Cody mumbled something from behind his bandages, and Haley laughed and left, calling "Beth, talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Haley!" answered Beth.

Later on, Beth recorded on the confessionals: "Haley? She's on a different team, but she's pretty mature for fourteen, and she's way nicer than Heather. Maybe I just made a friend. That's another perk from standing up to Heather!"

_TOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMATOTALDRAMA..._

Back at home, Jessica had been keeping track of every competitor besides her daughter, writing down their names and looks so she knew who was gone and who wasn't. Every episode aired within two weeks of the event, with very little post-production polishing. She'd been horrified by some of the things they were made to do. Even for sixteen-year-olds, the Awake-A-Thon had been inhumane in her opinion. And although she'd enjoyed watching the Phobia episode, she'd genuinely felt worried for Gwen being stuck under the sand after Trent ran away when the mime arrived, and Cody being assigned to defuse a time bomb.

As the show went on, Jessica found herself not only rooting for Haley, but warming to the others, although she agreed with what Courtney had said when Haley confided that she had a crush on Duncan. She didn't want her daughter to end up in trouble, and it concerned her that Duncan was pretty obviously making moves on not only Haley, but Courtney too. But she couldn't help enjoying sarcastic but softer-on-the-inside Gwen, and sighing in exasperation over nerdy Harold.

"I don't know what to hope for, Hales." Jessica murmured. "Hoping that you get home safely soon...or hoping that you can at least get through to the merger."

**Short chapter this time, but at least we have a lot to see next up!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Right. Time to get cooking! BTW, I did put the sped up bits into Courtney's confessional dialogue. I didn't pick up on it being real speech during the first watch, but then I listened carefully, and you can understand what she's saying, although I'm not sure how she went from "delusional" to something about wearing sunglasses. Thanks for reviewing, Bloody-Asphode11, Supernatural Creatures Rock100, and Guest.**

There was a lot of complaining from the boys on Haley's team the next day – well, from DJ, Duncan and Geoff, since it was about Harold. It turned out he was leaving his laundry on the floor of the Bass boys' cabin. The girls didn't need to ask – they could hear everything.

"Why couldn't the girls be in the east cabins and boys on the west or vice versa?" sighed Haley. "At least we wouldn't have to hear this stuff."

Sadie agreed with her. "You know, sometimes I hate boys. I'm seriously thinking of becoming a lesbian."

"Don't tell me..." teased Haley. "You'd date Katie?"

To her surprise, Sadie shook her head. "No! I love Katie, of course, but we're more like sisters. That would just be gross. Besides, Katie's already dated boys, except every single one has screwed her over." She sighed. "I told her that all boys are trouble, but she says she still loves them."

"Not all boys are trouble." Bridgette argued. "I mean, Geoff stopped trying to get my attention after that thing he left me. I think he took the hint that it was too much."

"Why didn't you just throw that thing away, anyway?" Courtney asked. "I mean, it smashed, and you didn't like it, did you?"

"I'm keeping it." Bridgette declared, but wouldn't explain further.

But the girls couldn't keep talking about boys. The challenge was up, and this time, it was a little less outdoorsy.

Chris wanted each group to cook a three-course meal, with him as taster. Each group would choose a head chef to choose the meal's theme and oversee the rest of the team's cooking. As a bonus, the winners would not only escape elimination, but would be rewarded. Luckily, ingredients were delivered straight to the beach where they stood.

In Haley's group, Geoff got made head chef when he saw the possibilities of an Italian-style meal.

"So we've got seven people and three courses." Geoff said. "The dessert will be the most complicated, so three people can do that. Everyone else partner up."

Bridgette offered to do the pasta for the main course and DJ said he could do the sauce. Then Harold volunteered himself and Sadie to make the antipasto. That left Courtney, Haley and Duncan to make the dessert.

Courtney's first reaction: "Oh no. No way."

"Come on, Courtney." Geoff coaxed. "For the team."

Haley knew Courtney pretty well by this time, and said quickly "Courtney, I'm useless at this. You have to do this – this challenge is one you could easily win, right? You can't just ditch the challenge because you don't like the people you're working with."

Courtney went to the outhouse for confessionals pretty soon after that to vent. She started off whining about Duncan and how he's unmotivated, obnoxious, delusional, and even went on to say something about "Wearing sunglasses doesn't automatically make you cool. And if you have to wear sunglasses, at least get some stylish ones. He's such a poser. People like that are so annoying. I mean, who does that? I'd say Haley is welcome to him, but she's still young and I don't think she knows what she's getting into by flirting with him. I'm getting seriously worried that she'll get herself into real trouble."

Haley got throroughly annoyed at her teammates. If it was any other time, she would have flirted, but she was seriously sick of them arguing over everything. It didn't get any better when the whole team stopped working to watch Heather and Leshawna yelling at each other on the other side of the kitchen about something.

Haley lost her temper. "SHUT UP!" she yelled at the top of her voice. There was a pause before...

Leshawna finally continued cutting the pineapple, and Heather walked off happily.

Haley muttered under her breath as she worked. "First I get stuck with the most argumentative duo on the team even if one of them has wanted to support me from day one (even if she is bossy) and I have a major crush on the other – then I have to listen to the bitchiest girl on this island fighting with one of her teammates."

Meanwhile, Leshawna's allergy to pineapples had given her red hives all over her arms and face. Heather didn't care and made it pretty clear. It took Gwen, Lindsay and Beth to hold Leshawna back.

After the pastries were ready, Duncan was the one who started squirting the custard into them, but of course, Courtney started in again. "They all have to have the exact same amount of custard."

"I can't stand it!" Haley complained. "Here, give me the custard. I can't stand listening to you two argue a moment longer. You two go do something else. Just quit fighting, I'm sick of it!"

She got to do the rest, but not before Duncan squirted some of the custard at Courtney, just after she claimed to be 'the most easygoing person I know'. Even Haley snorted at that comment, although Courtney did retaliate with the custard.

On the other hand, the stuff tipped on Duncan tasted good. Haley knew Courtney was going to taste it, so she got there first, delicately taking some on her finger, and then trying to make her tasting it look as sexy as possible without looking like she was trying – for a demure-looking fourteen-year-old. "Pretty good." she said with a wink. Courtney shot her another glare, which she didn't see.

Chris tried the Killer Bass' foods first. He loved Sadie and Harold's antipasto, thank goodness. Bridgette and DJ's pasta was a success too, but it was the dessert that Haley cared about most. After all, she'd helped make it. And although Courtney had been all precise about it, how precise could she be when she argued with Duncan every five minutes? At least the Bass were still leading, since Owen had eaten most of the Gopher's ribs.

Courtney seemed just as worried as Haley. Duncan seemed to notice, since he put a hand on each girl's shoulder. Both of them couldn't help but smile.

However, the dessert didn't measure up to the rest of the meal. But luckily, the Gophers' flambe was a bust. Not only did it become ashy the minute Chris put his fork in, but he choked on the piece he tried.

"What the heck is this?" Chris demanded.

"It's Heather's recipe!" Lindsay said defensively, but then gasped. "Omigosh, Heather! She's still locked in the fridge!" She ran back into the kitchen to free Heather. Haley giggled, as she did in pretty much every single chapter.

"It was about time I found something funny!" Haley exclaimed in the confessionals. "Usually I enjoy listening to Duncan and Courtney fight a little bit. Okay, so what Courtney said about being easygoing was pretty funny but..." she burst out laughing. "Heather being locked in the fridge is much better!"

But the Bass had won a five star dinner under the stars, according to Chris. When they heard that, everyone started celebrating. Duncan actually picked up both Courtney and Haley and hugged them, that was until Courtney snapped at him to put her down. Haley decided not to let go.

She smiled flirtatiously. "I know I may seem, like, totally _clingy _right now, but..." she smiled, "If that's the wrong way to do things, you should read between the lines of what Courtney says." She meant that if she had chosen the wrong way to flirt, than he should go for Courtney, who was still playing it cool.

At the campfire pit, Heather's choice of voting won. Beth had to go home.

The next morning, Harold woke up to find his bunk on the beach, and all of the girls from both teams in the ocean, so they all saw him in...well, nothing.

"Good morning, Harold!"  
"Disappointing." Haley whispered to Gwen, who was closest.

The boys who had planned this were in one of the canoes, watching. "So, learned your lesson yet?"

"Yes!" cried Harold. "Okay!" He had to swear he'd never leave his stuff out, and the boys finally believed him.

"Seeing that just makes me want to turn lesbian even more." Sadie confided to Haley.

"Harold's just scrawny." Haley answered. "On the other hand, the other three guys in our cabin probably have more...appealing looks."

"Yeah, and you and Courtney want one." Sadie teased. There was a pause.

"Sadie!" Haley spluttered, after comprehending what she'd said. "A crush...I mean, how long have we been on here? A month? We all know that I kind of have a thing for Duncan. He probably knows, anyway. We also all know that Courtney does too. But that is SO not the reason. Besides, I'm not getting anything. He's been flirting with Courtney since the dodgeball game, at least."

Sadie laughed. "Don't be so sure. This boy at my school flirted with Katie for ages. Turned out he was just paying attention to her because she was my BFF and he liked me, and wanted information. Katie was furious when she realized he was using her to get to me. After all, you and Courtney are pretty close, right?"

That was an interesting idea. But Haley was still sure Sadie had it wrong.

**Yes, I am making fun of the fact that Duncan hasn't paid much attention to Haley. Yes, I don't know how to do it. Yes, he still hasn't decided whether to turn his attention on Haley or Courtney. On the other hand...ooh, plot bunny! *Chases after it* Hey, mind leaving me a review to bait it?**


	12. Chapter 11

**Yes, indeed, I got an idea. You'll probably guess it within the next few chapters. Thanks for reviewing, Supernatural Creatures Rock100, Sydney J and Anna!**

Courtney started in on Duncan again the next day, when he stole a mug. She even seemed a bit worried. "You might get kicked off!"

"Aw, and here I thought you didn't care about me."

Haley zipped over to the table and said "Are you kidding?"

Courtney glared at the younger girl, yet again. Duncan smirked with a look that very clearly, said that he knew exactly which two players had a thing for him. Too bad Haley didn't hear the conversation later on between him and a certain other team member.

"Are you done flirting with both of them? You're going to have to choose if you're serious."

"Yes, okay? And I am serious about her. Happy now? I get it."

"So? Who is it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious. They're very different, but they're pretty cute. Personally, I like the more open type."

Even if Haley had listened, she would've been sidetracked by the challenge – trust exercises! Chris seemed to be choosing it mostly because no one on the Screaming Gophers trusted Heather, with the exception of Lindsay, who was, of course, the bimbo of the group. Chris added that there was something between the Bass, too, at which point Duncan nudged Courtney, and she shoved him so hard that he was on the ground.

The first exercise was free-hand rock climbing. It was just for two – one to climb, and the other to keep them safe. Chris paired up DJ and Duncan from the Killer Bass, with Heather and Gwen for the Gophers.

Haley couldn't help smirking over something she'd heard them saying that morning.

"What's the smirk for?" Sadie whispered to her.

"Just something I heard Gwen say this morning. Heather was saying how she'd make her team sorry they ever met her, and Gwen was like 'too late'." Haley answered. Both girls laughed.

DJ's pet rabbit was left in Geoff's care while DJ did the climbing. On the other side, Gwen climbed. Heather assured her that she wouldn't let her die if it meant throwing a challenge. "Yet." However, she did hook up a second line. Gwen was suspicious from the start, but Heather said something to explain it away, and then claimed her smirk was just because she was happy they were in this together.

It turned out what the extra rope was for, was revenge. When Heather pulled, it ripped off the back of Gwen's skirt, giving everyone a view of her purple panties.

"Well, you don't see that every day." Duncan commented.

"Pervert!" Haley called out from the sidelines. Well, no one else was going to say it.

Even with the skirt gone, Gwen finished climbing first, winning the challenge for the Gophers.

Next was another cooking challenge, with Trent and Lindsay vs Geoff and Bridgette. Well, one would cook and the other would eat. Bridgette and Lindsay decided to do the cooking. Trent thought Lindsay couldn't possibly screw it up.

Wrong. Chris said they had to prepare fugu sashimi, which could be deadly if the cook served the wrong pieces.

Bridgette prepared the fugu perfectly, of course. Geoff loved it. Trent wasn't so lucky, but at least he survived Lindsay's mistake.

The last two challenges were terrifying, to be honest. Chris didn't seem to notice Haley not having done a challenge.

"What about me?" asked Haley.

"You seem to get along pretty well with all of your team, and...well...it's not legal for me to put a fourteen-year-old into any of these challenges..." Chris admitted, "So you got lucky."

Meanwhile, a little accident had happened while Geoff was looking after Bunny – a snake had eaten him. However, during the last challenge, not only did DJ receive a new rabbit (which he thought was the same one), but it was Duncan who found it for him.

"I can't believe you found a new bunny for DJ."

Haley could barely believe her eyes. Courtney was the speaker. She was talking to Duncan when she wasn't annoyed, and she was even smiling. Smiling! "You're a good guy." the brunette finished.

Duncan, of course, denied being anywhere near good or nice, and still swore Courtney to secrecy.

"Hey!" Haley popped up between them. "Secret's out. But don't worry, I'm not telling."

Later, in confessionals, Haley had this to say: "Somehow, I think he prefers Courtney. I should have seen it coming. She's prettier, curvier, older, and much better at playing it cool than me. She likes him, I know she does, but she's good at pretending she doesn't." She shrugged, although her eyes were shimmery with tears. "Maybe if Sadie will let me cry all over her about it, I'll get over him quicker. Meanwhile, no more flirting. If he talks to me, I stay cool." She sang a few lines from a Kelly Clarkson song. "_Miss Independent, Miss Self-sufficent, Miss Keep your distance...Miss Unafraid, Miss Out of my way, Miss Don't let a man interfere..."_

However, the Bass had to send someone home, because DJ broke a rule. To be honest, Haley didn't know who to vote for. She couldn't vote for herself, but she sure as hell didn't want to vote for one of the girls. They were like sisters to her. Since DJ had broken a rule, she decided to vote for him.

Chris handed out the marshmallows, as per usual. "Let's see. One for Duncan, one for Bridgette, one for Courtney. Haley – hope you show you're worthy of it, since you couldn't do anything this week. DJ, Geoff, well done, my brothers. Looks like we only have one left. Sadie and Harold, the final marshmallow."

Haley prayed that Harold would be the one kicked off. She mentally begged Chris to say Sadie's name...

"Come on already!" called out Courtney.

"Don't rush me!" scowled Chris. "The audience eats up this kind of dramatic conclusion." Finally, Chris said...

"Harold."

Sadie stood up. "You know what?" she said. "That's fine with me, you...marshmallow-eating freaks!" She sped away, starting to bawl.

Haley shrugged, tossed her marshmallow to Bridgette and ran after Sadie to say goodbye. "Hey, Sadie, wait! I didn't vote for you."

Sadie slowed down, but still didn't look at Haley. "I just wanted to say goodbye, wish you luck." the younger girl said. "You were really awesome." Finally, at the dock, she stopped. There was something different about the boat. She nudged her friend. "Sadie, look who's on there!"

Sadie looked up at the shrill squealing coming from the girl on the boat, and started squealing herself. She couldn't believe it..._Katie, _her best friend, was there to greet her! This almost made up for getting kicked off the show...she got to see Katie again.

Haley shrugged, waved to Sadie and Katie (who were so wrapped up in their reunion, they didn't notice) and walked back to her team.

**That's the chapter done! You may think it's clear who Duncan's picked now, but don't forget, things can change. Will he even make it official with Courtney this time around, hmmm? Please review!**

**And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check out my story "Kiss Me, But Don't Let Me Love You". Please! Reviews are rewarded with Chris' marshmallows!**


	13. Chapter 12

**Right. Let's continue it all. Thanks for reviewing, Bloody-Asphode11 and Sideshow Cellophane 26.**

"I miss Sadie." Haley admitted, that night. "The cabin feels so empty with just the three of us."

"I know what you mean." Bridgette admitted. "We started out with Eva, as well as both Sadie and Katie. Now it's just you, me and Courtney...and the boys, of course."

"I want to kick Harold off next." Haley said. "I know the clothes fiasco is over, but apart from the beatbox and the winning dodgeball catch, he hasn't been doing anything. As far as I'm concerned, the antipasto was partly Sadie, too, so it doesn't count."

Courtney nodded. "Definitely Harold. He's the least useful to the team right now. We have to vote off the weakest links, then pick off the strongest people after the merger."

The next morning, while Bridgette and Haley were chilling in their cabin, Courtney ran in. "Boys are so gross." she muttered.

"What happened this time?" Haley asked, sounding amused.

"The guys were playing another prank on Harold. They made s'mores out of his briefs." Courtney shuddered. "Harold threw one of them out of the food, and I almost stepped on it."

The next challenge was hosted by Chef. All of the contestants lined up on the dock, Chef yelling at them to stand to attention, hitting them with a cane to correct their posture. "Feet together! Arms down!" He hit Duncan, whose arms were folded. "Eyes forward!" DJ jumped and faced forward. "Heads up!" This time, Heather got hit.

"Oh, this is going to be a fun day." Gwen muttered to Trent.

"What did you say to me, soldier?" Chef bellowed through a megaphone.

"Um...nothing."

"And you will continue to say nothing until I tell you that you can say something!"

Finally, Chef explained that the challenge would be tough, and he didn't expect everyone to survive. The last one standing would win their team immunity.

"What happened to Chris?" Heather muttered.

"Rule number one!" Chef barked. "You will address me as Master Chief! Is that clear?"

"Yes, Master Chief!" chorused the contestants.

The last rule was that no day would end until someone dropped out. Finally, Chef ordered everyone to the beach, where two canoes were waiting. Each team would have to hold one of them up. If anyone took their hands off the canoe, they would be eliminated.

At first, this seemed easy enough. But after three hours, it wasn't so simple. Haley noticed Courtney's arms trembling with the weight, and the canoes seemed to feel heavier and heavier. Plus, everyone was hungry, and they'd missed lunch.

"Don't even think about it, Owen." Haley heard Gwen say, but she didn't look around to see what was going on. If she twisted around, her hands would probably leave the canoe.

Meanwhile, Geoff played another prank on Harold. Chef didn't notice his hands off the canoe, but he was holding a fishing rod, and latched it onto Harold's briefs. Finally, when he reeled the hook back in, Harold felt it.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Idiots!"

At night, everyone was still there. The first to drop out was Lindsay. "Guys, I don't think I can do this anymore." she said weakly. "I have no feeling in my arms!" She went to ring the bell Chef had set at the Dock of Shame, to signal that she had to given up. Everyone was finally allowed dinner, at least...except it was just the stuff everyone put in the bins after breakfast. Plus they had night training after that.

Heather and Courtney refused to eat. However, there was a good laugh for most people when Duncan gave Harold a glass of kitchen grease, telling him it was apple juice.

"You guys are so immature." Courtney said. Haley started mouthing the words behind her, knowing exactly what she was going to say. "I hope you're proud of yourselves."

"Okay, look." Duncan said. "I know you like me, he knows you like me," - meaning Geoff - "Everyone knows it, so here's a tip: If you wanna kiss me, I might let you."

Maybe if Haley had turned away a fraction before that, the people facing her wouldn't have seen her eyes go all shimmery, but as it was, most of the guys on her team saw it. She didn't know that, and walked off, singing "Miss Independent" under her breath, feeling so bad that she couldn't put up those walls from the first verse.

"And to think I actually thought you were nice!" Courtney's voice floated over to her.

"Me, nice? Yeah, right."

"Why'd you think that?" Geoff's voice asked.

"Never mind, I was wrong. He's just as gross and annoying as he wants you to believe."

Haley knew Courtney had walked away from the boys. She didn't have to look back to know that.

The night training seemed to be weird dancing, so it took Haley's mind off her boy troubles – or lack thereof – she would rather have Courtney's denial and infuriation than be the little girl who didn't get attention at all.

Eventually, Duncan switched the music off, arguing that Lindsay had dropped out, so they should be able to go back to their cabins.

Chef obviously didn't agree, and ordered "Drop and give me twenty!" Duncan obeyed. When Chef challenged anyone else to speak up, Gwen actually asked if she could go to the bathroom. Chef sent her up there with a bucket and mop.

The next challenge was a three-hundred word essay about how much they loved Chef. Anyone who fell asleep or didn't finish would be eliminated. Haley managed to finish and stay awake, but only just.

Duncan had just written one sentence that used the word "very" a total of 291 times.

Trent and DJ were eliminated for falling asleep, but everyone was allowed to get a little bit of sleep afterwards. It looked like Duncan might have said something, but Courtney pulled him away before he could get in trouble again.

"What are you trying to do, get eliminated?" she hissed.

"I didn't know you cared." Duncan smirked back at her.

"I don't!" Courtney insisted. "I just don't want to lose this challenge, so stop being such a screw-up and do what you're told for once, okay?" She turned on her heel and left. Haley, who was standing in the corner, stayed where she was, waiting for everyone to leave. No one seemed to have noticed her.

"She wants me." Duncan said confidently.

"No doubt." Geoff agreed, bumping fists.

Haley was dying to ask why Courtney and not her, but she knew she couldn't. But she was surprised when she caught Geoff asking "So it's her?"

"Yeah. For now at least. If it works out before she's gone. Maybe it'll last, maybe it won't. Besides, I think she's the only one who's still interested."

**The rest of the episode will be in the next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Well, I didn't expect I'd do what I'm going to do, but I will do it. Thanks for reviewing, Sideshow Cellophane 26 and Bloody-Asphode11.**

After a few hours of sleep, the group had to complete an obstacle course. In under a minute.

No one thought to help each other. It was every person for themselves. The more agile ones flew through it, while the bulkier people struggled. Haley wasn't too good at it, but she was little and athletic at other things, so she was in front of people like Leshawna and Owen.

Harold was out next.

Then one of Duncan's comments got him more push-ups. But his response – to thank Chef and kiss him on the nose – got him confined to the boathouse for the next night.

It was a lot more scary than it sounded.

During dinner, Courtney suddenly stood up, saying "I'm going to check on him."

"You like him." Geoff stated.

"I do not like him!" Courtney insisted.

"Yes, you do."

"Not only do I not like him, I can't stand him! He's rude, he's rebellious, and he's totally annoying!"

"Stop denying it, Court." Haley spoke up. "We all know it." She looked sad as she said it, but with a little smirk hovering at the corners of her lips.

Courtney hurriedly left, and Haley turned to Geoff, saying "I know something's going on. I heard you talking to Duncan earlier today about Courtney. What did you mean 'so it's her'?"

Geoff didn't need to answer Haley. He didn't have to. Haley was starting to put the pieces together. "I know! I think I heard you two talking a few weeks ago – just before the phobia challenge. I remember! I didn't register who it was at the time – something about choosing one girl. The other girl was me, wasn't it?" For the first time since she'd landed on the island, Haley's emerald eyes were as hard as the jewel its colour was named for.

Geoff felt uneasy with the younger girl staring him down like that. "Okay!" he admitted defeat. "I heard you telling Courtney that you liked him, so I let him know. He's been thinking about concentrating on you or Courtney since. But because you don't talk to him much, he kind of assumed you lost interest."

Haley stared at him. Up until that moment, she'd liked the blonde guy. Now she was seeing a whole new side to him...one she didn't particularly like.

Courtney was acting weird and hyper for a bit. She calmed down for most of the remaining challenges, but still loosened up considerably. Haley knew for a fact that something had happened when she went to the boathouse, but she didn't say anything.

Finally, it got to the last day of challenges. Everyone who hadn't dropped out had to hang from a tree branch with their knees. Haley had been kicked off earlier, but she watched. Geoff, Duncan and Courtney were representing her team, while on the other team, there was Gwen, Heather and Owen. Haley decided to stick around and watch, although she hid behind a tree. She didn't want Chef to see her.

Duncan fell first. Then Heather gave up, swinging herself right side up and jumping down. After that Owen fell. A minute after that, Courtney began giggling hysterically.

"Stop laughing this instant!" Chef demanded.

"I'm sorry!" Courtney said in between giggles. "I can't help it!" She fell, still laughing.

"I expected more out of you, soldier." he said.

"Master Chief, I just have one thing to say to you." Courtney replied, picking herself up.

"And what might that be?"

"You really need to take a chill pill!" Courtney burst out laughing again. She and Duncan high-fived, and Haley had to turn away. They looked so obviously happy together. In spite of how mismatched they looked, with Courtney in her plain neat clothes with plain neat hair and Duncan with the green mohawk and edgy punk style, Haley saw the perfect match, and cursed herself because she wasn't getting over her crush fast enough.

Gwen was the last one left hanging, and won the Screaming Gophers immunity.

That night, before voting, Haley talked to her friends. "Please, please, vote me off. I don't want to be on this show any more."

"Why not?" Courtney and Bridgette asked together.

Haley didn't want to explain. "Hard to tell you." she muttered.

Courtney got it first. After all, Haley had confided in her. "Haley, if this is about what happened with me, no way am I voting you off. You're a strong, beautiful girl and it's not your time to leave yet."

Haley went to the confessional outhouse, but couldn't stop herself from crying. "I can't say to them straight out how painful it is to watch Duncan and Courtney together, that it's the reason I want to go home...but what can I do?" An angry look came into her eyes. "Harold should be going home, but he won't be. I'm going home. I wanted to stick this out, but even if this makes the audience hate me, I have to do it. I can't vote either of them off – that's not fair on them. But I can change the votes around and get myself kicked off."

How was she to know that she wasn't the only one planning that night? When she went to cast her votes, she was shocked to find every single vote read COURTNEY, in the same handwriting. Immediately, she took all of the Courtney votes out, and wrote her own name, making the handwriting different on each one. She knew Courtney's handwriting especially well, and forged it beautifully.

When Chris didn't call Haley's name at the marshmallow ceremony, she put all of her acting skills into the performance she had before leaving. "Bye, guys." she said, trying to squeeze out nonexistent tears.

"Wait a second! There should be a recount!" Courtney declared. "How could you all vote for her?"

"The votes don't lie." Chris said cheerfully. "Off you go, Haley."

Haley said her goodbyes to Chris, hugged Courtney and Bridgette, waved to the boys and set off down the Dock of Shame.

But to her absolute surprise, she was not going home. Instead, she was greeted by some very familiar faces at a luxurious resort called Playa Des Losers.

"Haley!" exclaimed Katie and Sadie at the same time. They both gave her a hug, and so did Beth.

"Is this where everyone who lost out is?" Haley asked.

"Nearly everyone." Cody answered. "Izzy never turned up." Haley was pleased to see the guy had the bandages off. He seemed to have recovered from the last time she saw him.

"At least, until the end of the show, we're all hanging out here." Ezekiel explained. "It almost makes up for getting kicked off, eh."

Haley narrowed her eyes. "Well, next time you get on a reality show, don't go around saying boys are stronger and smarter than girls. It's sexist, it's incorrect, and it's why we kicked you off. So where am I sleeping?"

"Your stuff got brought up here too – everything's taken care of." Beth told her. "You're staying in the same room as me – but there's only two to a room. Isn't that great?"

"Yep!" Haley said brightly. Maybe kicking herself off the show wasn't such a crime...not if she got to spend it in such a great resort.

**It isn't over until it's over. But the story is far from over. Please don't stop reading! There's still a chance...want to take a guess who Haley might find solace in?**


	15. Chapter 14

**I'm back! Told you I would be! Oh, and the reason Courtney is gone – let's pretend that there was an extra episode when she was kicked off after the last one, then Harold got kicked off next when he got distracted by Heather's cleavage. Thanks for reviewing, Guest, but firstly, you're talking about the Double Dog Dare Challenge, and second, Heather isn't really a focus in the story yet. Haley's story is far from over. Thanks also to Bloody-Asphode11, and Sideshow Cellophane 26. I am aware that the next move in this story is controversial due to later seasons, but trust me on it.**

For the next week, the group had uncut footage of everything happening back at Wawanakwa, if they cared for it. Haley mostly refrained from watching, and just hung out, getting a tan. Strangely enough, she found a friend in someone she hadn't talked to much on the island – Cody. They'd been on different teams, so it was understandable that she hadn't known him very well, but the time at the resort gave her a chance. The only thing she'd ever really noticed about him on the island was that his eyes were sky blue, but as the next week passed, she got to know him properly. And in spite of being a little goofy, she liked him. She hadn't known that Cody considered himself a ladies' man, or that once he knew Gwen liked Trent, he did her a favour in exchange for a certain article of clothing that meant Owen would do the washing up for him when it was his turn. Haley laughed at that story, although she added that it was gross. Since they didn't have any big responsibilities, they were able to talk so much that they knew each other almost inside out within a week.

"So do you love Gwen?" she asked one hot evening, when they were sitting by the pool, dangling their feet in the water.

"She's hot." Cody said. "But I guess I don't love her. I liked her, but I'm trying to get over her now."

"I know what you mean." Haley admitted. "Can you keep a secret?" she lowered her voice. "I rigged the votes and got myself voted off...and it was because I couldn't stand seeing Courtney and Duncan together. I had a major crush on Duncan. I think I'm getting over him now, but I couldn't stand seeing them. I mean, did you see how hyper Courtney had gone? I mean, did you see the bit when Courtney couldn't stop laughing and then told Chef he should take a chill pill? I couldn't stand being around that when I was feeling all lovelorn."

Cody gasped. "Seriously? Why didn't you just vote one of them off?"

"That wouldn't have been fair on them." Haley said. "Besides, I'm a little scared about what either of them would do if they found out. You won't tell, will you? I'm trying to get over Duncan, just like you're trying to get over Gwen."

Cody smiled. "If this was a romance movie, we'd end up together, wouldn't we? Spurned by our crushes."

"I guess." Haley said, with a smile. There was a pause, as the two friends just looked at each other for a moment.

At that moment, Beth stuck her head out from the back door. "Hey, guys, Courtney's on her way!"

The spell was broken. Haley frowned. "Courtney? She got voted off already?" She shot up and joined the rest of the group to greet her friend when she got there.

"How did she get voted off?" she asked Beth.

"We saw Harold messing with the votes." Justin spoke up for once. "Courtney was furious at being kicked off, though.I think they all voted for Harold. Chris probably knows someone changed the votes, but he's still sending Courtney here."

"Typical Chris." Haley sighed. Sure enough, when the boat arrived, Courtney was already on her cellphone to her lawyers. Her face was set and determined, more like the Courtney Haley first met than the Courtney she'd seen on her last day.

When Courtney finally got off her phone, Haley greeted her with a hug. "Hi, Courtney." she said. "Did you hear – Harold rigged the votes. He is so dead when he gets here. Meanwhile, welcome to luxury!"

Courtney's face softened the tiniest bit when Haley gave her a hug, but hardened when she said what Harold did. "Your votes were rigged last week too!" she added. "Who was voting you off?"  
"Me." Haley said simply. "Don't you remember? I begged you and Bridgette to vote me off. So I rigged the votes to get myself kicked off. Although I think Harold tried to vote you off at the time – all of the previous votes had your name in the same handwriting."

"Why me?" Courtney finally asked. Her anger was still there, but now she looked shocked at the idea that someone would dislike her enough to go to that much trouble to kick her off the show.

"He said 'let's see how you like it when someone messes with your love life'." Noah said, his voice deadpan as usual. "He was sick of the other guys pranking him, so he was using you to get to Duncan – it was obvious from the start you two had something, you know."

"I never had something that far back!" Courtney argued. "Just because he called me 'darling' once within your earshot-"

"Besides, she's got a different nickname." Haley interjected with a little smirk. "To him, she's 'Princess'."

"Haley!"

"What? It's true, isn't it?" Haley suddenly realized she was laughing. She'd actually started to get over her crush. After all, it was just that – a crush. Same as Cody's crush on Gwen wasn't as deep as love either.

That was something they mentioned when they were down by the pool again, that night. Everyone else was in bed (Courtney, Beth and Noah) or partying in the house (just about everyone else). However, Haley wanted some peace and quiet, but didn't want to go to bed. She'd been hoping to talk to Beth, but the girl had been fast asleep by ten. Courtney had purely opted for an early night because she wanted a proper nights' sleep after not getting much on Wawanakwa.

So Haley was sitting down next to the pool, staring into the water.

"Gotten wise to the position that'll be perfect to push someone into the pool and opting for that one instead?" Cody flung himself down beside her.

"So...why aren't you inside, trying to chat up Sadie or Katie...or someone else, I don't care."

Cody shrugged. "Well...Beth's asleep and she's kind of weird anyway, Courtney's asleep and she has a boyfriend, Eva scares the hell out of me most of the time, and Sadie and Katie are _boring_ – all they do is gossip and giggle together." He held out a can of beer. "Want some?"

"Cody, I'm only fourteen!" Haley laughed.

"So what?" Cody said. "We're all underage. Fourteen, sixteen, what's the difference? Go on, we can share it if you don't want all of it."

"Can you go get a paper cup, then?" Haley said. "I'm not into swapping spit."

"Oh? Not even with the Codemeister?" Cody's eyebrows moved up and down. Haley laughed at him.

"Not if it's on the ridge of the beer can, stupid." she teased.

"Well," Cody said, trying to sound suave and seductive, "How about if we did it like this..." Haley didn't have any time to process what he'd said before he pressed his lips to hers.

Haley had never been kissed before, labelling most of the boys she knew as 'immature'. Either that, or they weren't interested. But Cody was different, and as the kiss continued, Haley decided that it wasn't so bad, Cody being the first guy to ever kiss her. And the minute he opened his mouth with hers, Haley felt fireworks as he became not only her first kiss, but also her first French kiss.

It felt like it was over too quickly. An awkward silence settled before Cody broke it with a chuckle. "I wasn't expecting it to happen that way, but then, maybe it's better that way."

Haley looked back down at the beer can and said "You planned to kiss me?"

"Well...yeah." Cody admitted. "Remember what I said earlier, about how the spurned get each other in the movies? Well, I like you. About as much as I liked Gwen. But I didn't want to make things weird because it's great being friends with you, so I figured that if you had enough alcohol, I could kiss you without you remembering. I know, I know, it sounds really dumb and I'm really sorry I was going to do it, but...well...now you know, I guess."

Haley honestly couldn't find it in her to be mad at the blue-eyed boy next to her. "I like you too." she admitted in a low voice. "I didn't realize it until now, but I'm willing to take a chance on you. I thought you were cute, even on the island."

"Really?" Cody said. "But we never even talked."

"But you still had blue eyes." Haley said. "First thing I noticed about you. You don't know how amazing your eyes are." There was a pause.

"I noticed you too." Cody whispered. "How could I not? Even when I wanted Gwen, I always thought you were very, very cute. Plus you were the only girl on the island in shorts that didn't make you look like you were looking for a hook-up. Not like Heather and Lindsay. Even Sadie and Katie's shorts were a bit...short. But you were still fun. And you're smaller than me. I like that in a chick."

"Are you going to ask?" Haley asked.

"..." Cody realized what she meant. "Okay. Haley Masker, will you go out with me?"

"Duh!" Haley laughed. "Uh-huh. So...what's next?"

There was a pause. Finally, Haley spoke again.

"Wanna make out?"

Cody answered by sweeping Haley into his arms and carrying her bridal style into the bedroom that so far, he didn't have to share with anyone until the next guy contestant arrived.

**Get your minds out of the gutter, people! The makeout is pretty much a fully clothed version, and I know it was quick, but there's so little to do there that it took a very short time for Cody and Haley to get to know each other well. Okay, please review!**


	16. Chapter 15

**Right! What else is going on at Playa Des Losers? Thanks for reviewing, RoyalBlueBunny, meangirl8, Sideshow Cellophane 26 (I know, but I don't know if he would've gone through with it) and Bloody-Asphode11. To the guest reviewer...OK, I know that now. Sorry, alliteration made me forget. And I decided not to bring Haley back to the island, but she's going to be in another season!**

Weeks passed. Contestants kept arriving. Sadly, only three days passed when Cody and Haley could have a room to themselves, since Harold arrived next and spent most of his time holed up in the room, hiding from a very frightening Courtney. Eva was called back to the island after Harold left, but arrived back a few days later. But Haley still persuaded Courtney to switch rooms were her for the time her roommate was gone.

"This doesn't have anything to do with Cody, does it?" Courtney had asked dubiously.

"Oh, and like you wouldn't do the same to get a little private time with your boyfriend." Haley had teased back.

"He's not...okay, so maybe he is. But we're both sixteen. I know you're mature, but you're still only fourteen. I don't want you to do something you'd regret." Courtney said softly.

Haley turned bright pink. "Courtney! I'm not going to do that until I'm at the legal age! Look, I would just like my own room, and if Cody happens to be in there with me, you can safely assume that I won't discuss what we did in there. And if by chance we got to something I wasn't ready for, I'd scream the house down if he stopped listening to me. But I don't think he will." After that, Courtney submitted, although when Eva came back, Haley returned to sharing her room with Beth and Courtney was still stuck with Eva.

Haley started spending the majority of her time with Cody, although she still found time to chat to Beth, giggle with Katie and Sadie, and have more serious conversations with Courtney. She discovered that she was actually Cody's first lips kiss, although they were reminded of the Awake-A-Thon when Noah accidentally kissed him.

Finally, Haley found time to call Jessica. She was forbidden to call until the episode she got kicked off in aired, but after that, she called. "Mom?"

"Haley!" Jessica exclaimed. "Where are you now? What happened?"

"I rigged the votes to kick myself off." Haley admitted. "The votes were rigged before than anyway – a certain idiot wanted to kick Courtney off because he was mad at Duncan and decided to hurt by messing with his love life. Right now, I'm at a luxury resort called Playa Des Losers, and it's great! I have made so many great friends there. I have _got _to keep in touch with them and introduce them personally when this is over."  
"So who's there right now?" Jessica asked. "I can't keep count..."

"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you who's gone until you've seen the episode, but Courtney's here." Haley answered. "And I'm really good friends with Beth – and Katie's accepted me since I became friendly with Sadie. And...I won't explain it now...but I can't wait to introduce you to Cody...you know, the boy that got mauled by a bear and had to leave covered in bandages?"

"Oh, how is he?" Jessica asked.

"Healed." Haley answered. "I just wish Izzy was here. Spoiler...she'll be back on the show, because she never left the island. I wish I got to know her better. She was pretty nice, even though she was a bit kooky. So...who are you rooting for now? We're all picking sides here. I think Gwen's going to win. Or Heather – but I hope not."

"You should call your friends, too." Jessica advised. "I got three calls asking if I knew you'd been kicked off right after the show ended."

"Okay, I will. Love you, Mom!" Haley put the phone down, then dialed the number of her friend Jodie.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jo."

"HALEY!" her friend screamed. "WHERE ARE YOU? Gem and Char and I went ballistic when you got kicked off. Harold should've gone!"

"Relax, Jo." Haley said. "If I hadn't gone, Harold wouldn't have, either. I found out that he rigged the votes because he wanted to kick Courtney off, just because he wanted to get back at Duncan for playing those pranks on him."

The two girls talked for a little longer, then Haley had the same conversation with her friends Gemma and Charlotte. They even talked about who they were rooting for. Jodie wanted Duncan to win – an obvious choice. Gemma opted for Trent, probably because she'd once gone out with a guitar player. And the strangest choice – Charlotte said she'd pick Lindsay, just because she'd like to see what the bimbo would do with the money.

Unfortunately for Gemma, Trent arrived next. Everyone had seen Heather's tactics to hurt Gwen by kissing Trent, so they knew it wasn't really the guy's fault that he got jumped by the ice princess. They stayed relatively friendly towards him. However, when Bridgette got voted off next, she probably got a warmer welcome. Everyone liked the girl...although they did tell her to go to the showers first thing, since the last challenge had really left her in need of one for people to get anywhere near her.

Lindsay got a lot of cheers when she arrived. Sure, she'd been Heather's slave for most of the series, but when she got kicked off on a technicality, she finally woke up to what Heather was really like, and they'd all seen her live, cussing Heather out, calling her a "two-faced, backstabbing, lying little *****". Lindsay may have been naïve, silly and just plain idiotic, but she was a sweet person and it was nice to see her stand up for herself when she finally realized how stupid she'd been in supporting Heather.

Tyler was especially thrilled to have his makeout partner back, except Lindsay couldn't seem to remember who Tyler was. At one point, she looked at an oddly shaped tree and asked "Are you Tyler?" But she seemed happy enough when she was in the arms of the boy in the red tracksuit, at least. But unlike Cody and Haley, they were happy enough to make out where anyone could see them. They'd kept it hidden on the island because Heather didn't approve of a girl in her alliance liking a boy on the other team, but she wasn't around.

Haley discovered that kisses and making out were addictive. Either Cody was really good at it – or she really was very inexperienced. Mostly, they tried to sneak into one of their rooms when their roommates weren't around. Luckily, Beth seemed to be happy enough working on her tan, therefore giving Haley a room that was pretty much her own until nightfall.

DJ arrived soon after Lindsay, followed by Izzy. Most people didn't know whether to be scared or happy that the insane redhead had finally showed up. They'd seen her back on the show, but hadn't known what to expect when she came.

"Hi, guys!" Izzy exclaimed. "So this is where we're staying until the end of the show? How cool! Did you see the last challenge?" Her rapid flow of sentences was too much for most people to keep up with.

After another week in which Geoff arrived (and spent most of his time making out with Bridgette), the group had a surprise. Chris arrived and announced that the episode was about what they'd been doing since they were kicked off.

Haley was reclining on a lilo in the pool. "I'm kind of glad I got kicked off, but not too early." she said to the camera. "At least I know viewers will know who I am. As long as I'm remembered, I'm happy. Plus I got over everything that happened...and I got a sweet guy. I've learned my lesson – pick the sweethearts over the delinquents."

Cody was pretty sunburned that day. The others suggested he wore more sunscreen, but he argued that he wanted to get a tan because the girls liked tans. "I know Haley likes me already, but I know she'd like me better if I was tanned!"

Everyone had their opinions asked on each of the final five. Haley gave her answers that she thought Gwen was ultra-cool and a survivor. Leshawna was an equally cool survivor...but maybe even more likely to win. She couldn't see Owen winning, but he was a nice guy. She despised Heather, but was seriously worried that she might actually win. And Duncan? Well, she smiled and said "While I'm so over him, I think he could win this thing. Meaner than Heather, tougher than Leshawna, more of a survivor than Gwen...definitely a candidate. Somehow, 'meaner than Heather' actually can be a compliment."

And everyone also had to say who they wanted to win out of the final five. Haley thought about it. "Tricky question...considering who was on there. But I'd pick Gwen."

Trent and Cody agreed with her.

Courtney whispered to the camera that she wanted Duncan to win. "Don't tell the others, though."

"Oh, we already know." Izzy said casually. "You were all over him."

"My golden lab drools less over a ribeye steak." Noah deadpanned.

"And...we eavesdropped again." Lindsay finished. Courtney facepalmed.

Harold, who had a crush on Leshawna, wanted to pick her, but Courtney threatened him with posting all his love letters to Leshawna on the Internet if he didn't choose Duncan, same as she had. He hadn't wanted to vote for the mastermind behind the pranks pulled on him, but after Courtney's attack when she found him, he wasn't in a hurry to cross her again.

Finally, Chris asked them the last question. "Who would you like to see joining you here at Playa Des Losers tonight? Katie and Sadie, since you share a brain, I'll ask you both. Who do you vote for?"

"Oh, I miss Leshawna the most!" cried Sadie. A 'ding' sounded.

"It would be so much fun to have her here!" added Katie. "Definitely Leshawna!" _Ding!_

"Why are you voting her off?" Courtney exclaimed. "If you like Leshawna,-" _Ding! "-l_eave her in!"

But no matter what, if someone said a competitor's name, then it was counted as a vote. That meant that Courtney had voted for her too. Lindsay said she wasn't going to vote for Leshawna, but she said the name. Twice.

"Okay, come on, guys!" Izzy said. "NO ONE SAY LESHAWNA!" _Ding! _Izzy clapped her hands over her mouth.

Trent also said her name, and some parrot said her name a few times, giving Leshawna nine votes. Haley managed to give Heather three votes by saying her name three times, but it wasn't enough. Leshawna was a goner, and she showed up at Playa Des Losers in a real mood.

**Next chapter may finish off the show, it may not. We'll have to see.**

**Finally, could you guys PLEASE check out my other TD fanfics? I recently uploaded a rewritten version of the song "Alejandro" by Lady Gaga to relate to TDWT called "Don't Play Them, Alejandro", and I would REALLY like some feedback on my other two multichapter fics "Kiss Me, But Don't Let Me Love You" and "The Sweetheart With a Dark Side".**


	17. Chapter 16

**Right! Let's go on. Thanks for reviewing, Bloody-Asphode11 – and just a hint, I'm not doing TDA, but I will be doing TDWT, and as for the dark side...Haley may get a cookie intended for a friend of hers.**

With only four competitors left, tension increased across the country. When Haley called up her friends before the episode kicking Leshawna off aired, they all made predictions vs hopes. Jodie said Duncan for both, Gemma said Heather vs Gwen, and Charlotte said Leshawna vs Owen, so Haley had to tell her the bad news and Charlotte changed her prediction to Heather with a sigh. "I don't want her to win, but she's so good at the game."

It took two more challenges before the top three was decided. When Duncan had to leave, Courtney wasn't watching. She'd stopped after the last episode when Duncan had called Heather and Gwen "hot" and hadn't stayed to hear him add that they were annoying. Yeah, Courtney was obviously the jealous type.

"Someone find Courtney!" called out Haley. "I want to see how she reacts to this!"

Courtney, surprisingly, handled the situation calmly. She seemed to have accepted that everyone knew the truth after they'd told her earlier. And the opposites seemed happy to be reunited, although they kept pretty platonic in front of everyone.

Next up, Chris asked the losing contestants for dares for the semi-finals. What would happen is that there would be a wheel with the losing contestants' pictures on it. Each semi-finalist would take a dare from the person who the wheel stopped at, and either push it onto another contestant, and do it and get a chance to refuse a later dare. Everyone came up with surprisingly weird ones, like Duncan dared someone to lick Owen's armpit, Izzy's dare was to give a "purple nurple" to a sleeping bear, and Beth dared someone to chew a wad of Harold's used gum. Haley's dare was to eat a muffin that someone had already chewed and spat out – preferably Owen, or if he got the dare, Heather.

The game started off about as well as expected. Gwen spun first and got Duncan's dare, but she dared Heather. Heather retaliated by giving Gwen the dare she was given – Ezekiel dared someone to chew their toenail slowly. Owen got Beth's dare and did it easily. Next, Gwen put a handful of ice down her skirt on Cody's dare, and Heather had to take Tyler's dare on eating jam out of Owen's bellybutton. Owen took Izzy's dare.

In the end, Haley's dare was given to Heather, who gave it to Gwen. Haley cheered when the competitor she wanted to win did it, even if Gwen lost the muffin and her morning pancakes, only seconds later.

Everyone at Playa Des Losers was riveted, because they wanted to see who got their dare and what happened. Eventually, Gwen and Owen decided to work together to kick Heather off. Basically, if the dare was refused and the person didn't have a freebie, they lost. So Owen gave half his freebies to Gwen, and they kept giving their dares to Heather. She had to do things like kiss a sock, eat a cockroach, and be shot into a pile of manure.

Finally, the wheel stopped at Lindsay. "Finally, I catch a break!" Heather said. "There is no way Lindsay could think of anything bad."

Back in the house, Lindsay giggled. "What did you dare?" Haley asked.

"Just watch." Lindsay said with a smirk. "Heather threatened to do it to me if I broke the alliance rules!"

Her dare to Heather was to have Chef shave her head. And Heather couldn't do it. She didn't accept the dare, but when she kicked the razor out of Chef's hand, it landed on her head anyway. Her long dark hair was ruined, and she was sent to stay with the losers. Even worse, she had to share a room with Leshawna, which was going to drive both of them nuts. But everyone had a good laugh at her hair, while they waited for the next day, in which they'd go back to the island to watch Owen and Gwen go head-to-head to compete for one hundred thousand dollars.

In fact, their visit was pretty easy. First, all they had to do was sit on a bunch of benches. One side represented Gwen's supporters, the other supported Owen's. Haley sat down with Gwen's supporters, along with Cody, Trent, Leshawna, Lindsay, and a bunch of others...only for most of them to switch when Owen said if he won, he'd use the money to throw an amazing party and invite everyone there. Even Lindsay gave in when Owen mentioned it being on a yacht. Still, Cody, Trent, Haley, and one or two others stayed.

The last challenge was a relay race. First, the two would run to separate flagpoles and climb up them to grab the flags. Then they would grab an eagle egg from a nest and walk across a plank of wood over a gorge with sharks swimming underneath. After that, it was a race to the finish line.

Some supporters ran with the winners, trying to help them. Trent ran alongside Gwen for most of the course, only going to the other side of the gorge the long way around, since he couldn't run alongside her for that. But then most people waited there. Heather and a few more of Owen's supporters helped him. Heather had even left Gwen a laxative-laced cupcake to slow her down, forging a note to say it was from Trent, and then put butter on her flagpole. Luckily, Owen was so huge it took three people to help him up the flagpole, and ages for him to get down.

The eagles' mothers were ready to attack the competitors when they had the eggs, as Chris explained to the losers as they watched from the other side of the gorge.

"Oh snap, that is messed up!" Duncan started laughing.

"What, you mean you enjoy watching this?" Courtney said, giving him her trademark look of disapproval. "They could die!"

"Aw, mellow your yellow, babe, this is awesome TV!" Duncan answered her. Haley was pleased to find that there was no twinge of jealousy when he called Courtney 'babe'. There was a bit more of an argument between the couple, then Courtney's expression suddenly changed and she kissed Duncan passionately, although quickly.

Finally, she pulled away and said "You're still not my type."

"You make me sick." was Duncan's reply, before they kissed again. Haley burst out laughing. They couldn't give the mudslinging a rest, even when they liked each other?

Gwen probably would have won if Izzy hadn't grabbed brownies and gotten Lindsay to get Chris' electric fan to blow the scent of brownies towards Owen. He'd been slowed down since Gwen had given him the cupcake Heather had left for her, and he was slower than her anyway, but the brownies made him run faster than ever before, although he tripped over Izzy.

Owen had won Total Drama Island! Although Gwen's supporters were less happy, it was still a good ending. Owen was such a nice guy, even if he did release too many noxious fumes and eat too much. And hey, who could turn down a party?

Anyway, Gwen seemed happy enough. Haley witnessed Trent picking her up and hanging her over his shoulder. When she asked him to put her down, he said "Say you'll go out with me. Come on, say it!"

"Okay, I'll go out with you!" Gwen agreed, and Trent put her down again. Meanwhile, Cody picked up Haley and spun her around before quickly kissing her, being suprisingly strong for being a skinny little shrimp. But then, Haley was smaller than the average fourteen-year-old. Then a few of the boys threw Chris off the edge of the Dock of Shame, an immensely satisfying end.

Finally, the day came that it was time to go home. Well, at least for Haley, since she was told over the phone by Jessica that she didn't want Haley to go to the party ("I really shouldn't have told her about that event with alcohol and Cody..." Haley sighed), but the fourteen-year-old didn't mind so much. She was asked to go back for a special finale episode, but again, she decided for herself that she'd had enough physical strain for the next five years, and she found a loophole in her contract, since she had a different one from the others because of her age. She exchanged email addresses with just about everyone. She even got Ezekiel's and asked for Heather's (but she refused), although she doubted she'd be emailing every single competitor. However, she kept Cody's, Courtney's, Beth's, Bridgette's, and Sadie's especially safe. They had been the ones she'd talk to the most.

Finally, the season was over. Haley watched the DVD tapes Jessica had recorded of the episodes she was in repeatedly, looking at what she had missed (like the Gophers' stint in the wild, and even Duncan and Courtney's first kiss), and reliving the moments that she loved (like Leshawna throwing Heather over the cliff in the first challenge). Although she was going to miss everyone, Haley was glad that she'd never have to exert herself that much again. Although the special required fourteen of the old competitors to return to a new season in a couple of days, Haley was lucky enough to escape it.

**It's not over, it's not over! Haley won't be in the next season, but she's going to return! Likewise, Total Drama World Tour took place a year after Total Drama Island.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Right! Thanks for reviewing, Bloody-Asphode11, and no TDA because I really just can't go through that season again. I dislike it, and besides, World Tour is just more fun for me. Let's skip to later...**

_A year later:_

Now it was May, and Haley had just had her fifteenth birthday. She'd been a bit of a celeb around school when she began freshman year, everyone asking her questions about the castmates and what they were really like, such as:

"Is Courtney nicer off camera than she is on?"

"Are Owen and Izzy dating?"

"Do you know what Heather's done with her hair after most of it was shaved?"

"When did you get with Cody? That guy is SO goofy!"

"Do you keep in touch with anyone?"

Haley tried to answer all of the questions. "Courtney's not that bad. She's just a bit bossy and righteous. She did support me, a lot. I don't know about Owen and Izzy – I'll ask them when I next email, maybe. Heather won't keep in touch with me, so I don't know. Cody asked me out soon after I got kicked off. And yes, I keep in touch with everyone except Heather, because she wouldn't give me her email address."

A few people treated Haley as a well-liked celeb, others avoided her, but after a few months, people settled down and forgot the unassuming blonde was ever on TV. She hadn't been on Total Drama Action, only having a few appearances on the new Aftermath show, hosted by Bridgette and Geoff. Still, that season was over, now – Duncan had won – and Total Drama seemed to be on hold for now.

Haley didn't get to see most of her Total Drama friends. However, Cody luckily happened to live only about an hour away from Haley, so they saw each other most weekends. He proved to be very good with meeting the parents, and Jessica had no problems with her daughter dating him, although she was still fairly protective. Cody's parents seemed to approve of Haley, too, although she didn't know them too well. Still, their relationship was still going strong, after half a year.

Haley had seen some of the others a few times. An interschool politics programme had brought a council of junior students from a school in the same state – Courtney's school, so Haley had caught a glimpse of her. They'd just waved at each other, though.

"Who are you waving to?" Haley's friend Gemma had asked.

"Didn't you see her? That girl from the other school – it's Courtney!" Haley said. "You know, the girl I met on Total Drama Island, the one that got kicked off after me?"

During the fall break, Lindsay had been in Haley's town on holiday, and they'd bumped into each other, although it took Lindsay a few minutes to remember where she knew the younger girl from...maybe it was because they hadn't talked much. Or because Lindsay had an immense lack of brain power.

Haley had also been unlucky enough to run into Heather during a day trip a few hours away from her town, but the older girl (who was at that moment wearing some kind of wig that didn't resemble her real hair) had just gave her a death glare and turned away. She probably remembered Haley laughing at her head being shaved at Playa Des Losers.

"Do you know her?" Jessica had whispered.

"You don't remember?" Haley whispered. "It's Heather."

Jessica had remembered, exclaiming "Oh, yes! I guess I'm used to seeing her with long hair."

Haley had enjoyed watching her old friends on the second season, and seeing those who weren't on it at the Aftermath shows, although Courtney had been on her cellphone to her lawyers the whole time, trying to sue the show for not bringing her back. It was a relief when she got back on the actual show, especially because she'd spent the second Aftermath episode yelling at Gwen because she thought she was getting a bit too close to Duncan. Gwen insisted that they were just friends, although she had broken up with Trent earlier. Who knows, maybe it was true – but more likely Courtney was just being paranoid and jealous. When she finally got back on the show, she played hard, but she was voted off fourth, then dumped Duncan for voting her off (she was the one who drew up a 32 page contract with things that had to change in their relationship).

After the end of Total Drama Action, things still happened to the contestants, old and current. Four of the boys, including Cody, formed a band momentarily. Gwen made a video blog about environmental problems with Katie and Sadie hovering, and Heather made a joke version of it with herself as Gwen and Katie and Sadie as finger puppets. It was sort of amusing, probably more so than the real thing, even though it was mean. "This is the Loser Gwen show, where everything always sucks and the world is terrible." Heather said on it. She did a bit of Katie and Sadie giggling.

"Like, oh my gosh, no singing? That is so sad, don't you think, Sadie? I know, like totally, oh my gosh! Isn't it, like, awesome how the same we are?"

After that, Heather switched back to Gwen. "How dare you interrupt my loser video blog! I wish Duncan were here so I could kiss him, even though I'm way too scared to tell him how much I love him, because I'm too cool. Yes. Save the whales!"

Duncan and Courtney got back together, and then broke up again. After the latst break-up, Gwen blogged that she thought Courtney was nuts to let Duncan go. "He is the best thing that ever happened to her! I mean, look at the guy! He's hot! I mean, uh...he's okay...for her." Apparently, she'd gotten emails before the break up asking if she had a thing for Duncan and stuff about how Courtney didn't deserve him like she did. Now that he wasn't Courtney's anymore, she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off him.

But then, at the end of May, it came to the Gemmie Awards, and everyone from the first two seasons came. Cody and Haley arrived together. Cody stepped out of the car first, and trying to be a gentleman, helped Haley out, making her giggle.

"Cody, Haley!" squealed a purple-haired girl, a fangirl called Sierra who was acting as interviewer. "You've been pretty quiet lately. You're under the radar as a couple. What's going on?"

Haley smiled tensely and said "We like to keep our love life our business." She didn't like the way the girl was looking at Cody.

The whole group was there, soon enough. Heather (now with a short ponytail) ran up to the doors first, yelling "I call dibs on the front row seats!"

"Oh no you don't!" Leshawna followed. Everyone else ran, although klutzy Tyler took longer than everyone else, as usual. But they didn't even get inside.

Chris explained when he arrived, that he was hosting a new show for Total Drama about a bunch of jerks living in a mansion, and the group of them were now officially old news. One guy that was in his new show was some very good-looking guy of Spanish descent called Alejandro. Even Haley went all dreamy when she first saw him, although not enough to notice when he knocked Cody over. While Sierra simply shrieked "Cody?" like it was a tragedy, Haley had enough sense to help him up. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

So everyone was stuck outside, including Sierra. No one was a star, not even the Action stars – not even Duncan, the winner of the season.

They also lost the award of Best Reality Show Cast, as they saw from the TV outside.

"Who cares about that stupid award?" Courtney fumed, tearing the TV off the place where it hung. "I'm going to law school! I have a future!"

"I miss that girl." Duncan remarked.

It made everyone madder that Chris won Best Reality Show Host. Everyone was disappointed, annoyed and disullusioned as they walked away.

It was Sierra who drew them back. "What's the matter with you?! No one deserves to be more famous than you guys! You can't just give up! Do you have any idea how many millions of fans of you are out there! I've been watching, blogging, PVRing you since the first episode! I – I mean, we – have fan sites about each and every one of you! We know everything about you, and we are rooting for you!"

As Sierra babbled on, Haley tuned out. "_This girl is insane – possibly even worse than Izzy!" _she was thinking. "_I'm looking up whatever fan site she's made for me as soon as I get home."_ However, crazy or not, Sierra's idea to hijack the interview that was scheduled for tomorrow and get to the studio in New York before Chris' new cast did was a good idea, although they had to take the bus owned by DJ's mom.

"You're gonna be famous again!" Sierra gushed. She even joined them on the bus.

Haley spent most of her time glued to Cody's side. "Not to be clingy or anything," she whispered, "But I don't like the way that Sierra chick looks at you, and I have a feeling she'd jump you if she had the chance." Sure enough, Sierra did seem to glance Cody's way a few too many times. But Cody didn't seem to mind Haley staying close to him. Unaware of the feed inside the bus videoing their every move, they started making out.

"Can't this jalopy go any faster?" whined Courtney, who was driving.

"Maybe you should let Duncan drive." Gwen suggested.

"Not helping, Gwen."

"She's just sticking up for her boyfriend." Heather smirked. "Wait...oh!" She looked at Courtney. "Duncan's your boyfriend, my mistake!"

"Oh no, I think I'm gonna be bus sick!" Beth groaned.

In spite of everything, the gang had a pretty interesting ride, and slowed down the other guys effectively. Then Duncan and Courtney started up another argument, this time over Courtney's driving.

"Hurry it up!"

"Back off, it won't go any faster than this!"

"What we need is a man behind the wheel!"

"What you need is some tape over your mouth!"

"Well, if you'd just listen to me-"

"Oh, I'll start listening the minute you say something worthwhile!"

"You're insane, you know that?"

"And you are a monster!" Seconds later, Courtney had abandoned the wheel to start a makeout session with Duncan – obviously they were back together again. The bus ended up off the road, breaking down.

"Hit the brakes!" yelled Duncan, once Courtney had finally returned her attention to driving.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Courtney screamed back.

Everyone began screaming. Courtney and Duncan clung on to each other. Haley and Cody had looked up from making out when they skidded off the road, but now they dived for each other again, this time in fear.

But the cast survived, although the bus was upside down and broken, angering DJ's mom.

Only after Geoff, Eva, Beth, Justin, Katie, Sadie, and Trent went for help did someone turn up – it was Chris in a helicopter!

It turned out that Chris' new show was a complete trick, as Alejandro admitted. Chris had only wanted to find out if the cast still had "it"...oh, and Alejandro was joining them next season, which would take place during the summer break again.

"You mean you want me in the next season?" Haley repeated.

"That's right, Haley." Chris grinned. "What would our third season be without our littlest competitor giving herself a fair chance this time?" Haley blushed.

The next season was a trip around the world, and there was a million bucks in it, so everyone agreed to it. But the guys that had gone for help had missed out.

Haley got to do a confessional just before leaving. "So I'm coming back for another season." she grinned. "I know Mom won't be happy, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. A bunch of weeks with everyone? I miss them all, and besides, after all Sierra's glances at Cody, I'm not letting him go anytime soon!"

**So World Tour will be next! I just bought the DVD for it. Hope you'll like it.**


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